


LIMBO SILVAM

by Darkspirit



Series: Pink-y tainted world [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Afterlife, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon - Video Game, Darkness, Death, F/F, Feelings, Friendship/Love, Ghosts, Mystery, Post-Steven Universe: The Movie, Spirits, Steven Universe: The Movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:48:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 43,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23028802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkspirit/pseuds/Darkspirit
Summary: It was a forest, but it wasn't at the same time. It was simple but deadly, and in its corners was hidden the answer to return. Now it's up to them to find it if they want to go home safe and sound.
Relationships: Lapis Lazuli & Peridot (Steven Universe), Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe)
Series: Pink-y tainted world [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655053
Comments: 10
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired in the video games 'I remember this dream' and 'Journey'.

Her head hurt horribly.

It was a stinging pain that couldn't leave her alone, but then it faded, replaced by icy cold that surrounded her whole body.

"Uh?... Where am I?"

Peridot could only see white and dark grey mixed together. Were her eyes damaged? What had happened? Her hands grasped something chill, wet and cold. She brought it to her face and a bit of it fell and touched her nose.

It was snow.

Slowly she got up, now sitting, the green gem looked at her surroundings with utter confusion. She was in the middle of a dark, depressing, creepy forest.

The sky was in the same mood as Peridot could see due to the mix of white and dark grey. The zone where she had been unconscious was free of trees, the forest making a natural fence that seemed to impose itself against Peridot.

"OK, for stars, where am I? Where are the others?" She tried to recall what she had done before waking up in this really disturbing forest. However, her mind was a mess. Just some blurry, disordered images, multiple voices overlapped and a hellish pain. Great, just what she needed. Now she had temporal amnesia.

"Ugh, whatever. Better to go find the others" She said annoyed and started walking... Wait, what direction should she take? North? South? East? West, maybe? "To my right" And there Peridot were.

Walking through a forest was nice if you are looking for a new leaf to collect like Lapis or just to explore for more new animals like Peridot, but there was something weird about THIS one that made her pretty paranoid. The trees, their branches and leaves were pitch black, some were twisted, some were rect and pointy like spears, they were too 'squished' together which made the forest look like a dark mass made of plant life that took the little light of the sky away from Peridot's vision.

Stars, it was so difficult to see beyond the many decrepit trees.

Then a sound, "Who's there?!" Anxiety twisted within her, yep, there was something seriously wrong with this forest, better to run and find a clearing, civilization, anything.

Running with all her might without looking back, she could notice a zone less plagued with trees, more open. Wait, something moved to the corner of her eye! Was it some animal or a human maybe? Peridot stopped despite her instincts telling her not to, "Is anyone here? Come on, d-d-don't mess with me! I have m-metal p-powers!" her fake bravado didn't last that much when she saw a figure advancing at her.

It didn't look like a gem or a human, its body was covered by a cloth or dark sheet.

Stranger danger, stranger danger! Peridot cursed her bad luck for not having any metallic material to use as a weapon and ran away from the mysterious threat. 'Run and don't look back' was the mantra she repeated in her head to escape her persecutor. Minutes later, the green gem was kind of near a new open zone that reminded her of the one where she woke up and surprise, surprise, there was a shack in the middle of it.

"Finally! Civilization!" 


	2. Chapter 2

If someone had told her she was going to wake up confused in the middle of a forest which is equal to the middle of nowhere, Lapis would've just looked at that person with half-lidded eyes and raised an eyebrow.

However, now that she was thinking about it, maybe that situation wasn't as stupid as she had imagined.

Alone, lost. That's how she felt during and after the Gem War on Earth. This time though there wasn't a war but a single question: how the heck did she end up in a forest?

Her memories were such a nonsense of a collage. Bits and pieces of images and sounds mixed while experiencing the worst kind of pain through all her body.

The icy wind tried to enter where she was, the subtle sounds of air brushing wood made Lapis jumped a bit and got into a defensive stance. Was one of those weird things still looking for her? She hoped not.

Really hoped not.

"Ugh! Of all the times to lose my powers, it had to be now!" the svelte gem tried again to summon her wings to no avail.

She didn't understand! What was wrong with her gemstone?! As far as she knew there weren't cracks to fix, so why couldn't she use a bit of her hydrokinesis?!

Lapis looked through the window of the shack where she was one more time. Only snow and trees. Not a single of those robed-like creatures.

The blue gem sighed, frustrated. Now what? Should she keep walking through the forest despite the dangers of encountering those figures or wait for the owner of the shack to ask for directions? Ha! Yeah, right!

Lapis turned around and decided to look for a light switch to illuminate the place. It was so dark inside the house that it's a miracle she hadn't tripped or broken something yet. Maybe she could find clues about where she was.

"Hello, is someone here?"

That voice. No, impossible. She had been shouting her name and the others' for hours without a result. But what if...? No, no. It must be one of those creatures pretending to be her friend.

' _How am going to escape? I can't use my powers and I don't know what those things are capable of_ ' she thought desperately.

The sound of steps got closer to the room where she was hiding. Terror gripped her soul and in that moment she remembered her old habit of 'flight or fight'. Then, blinded by the panic she retaliated against the little figure who appeared at the door of the room.

"WHO ARE YOU?!"

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Two voices overlapped with each other before a tackle was delivered and a little foot kicked her stomach strong enough for Lapis to step back for a moment.

"Stay away, you, whoever you are!" the high-pitched voice ordered her. She could recognize it anywhere but Lapis couldn't believe what was happening.

"P-Peridot?" She asked shyly, praying for the answer to be an honest yes and not a trap.

"W-Wait... Lapis? Is that you?" the green gem approached her with uncertainty and slowly took the svelte gem's hand though clumsily due to the darkness of the room.

The heavy fear was lifted by the gentle touch of her friend which prompted her to hug Peridot tightly much to the little gem's surprise.

"It's you! Thank stars it's you!"

Peridot, despite her surprised expression, returned the hug as earnestly as Lapis and smiled.

"It's so great to see you again!"

Then the blue gem pulled away from her friend, doubts running through her mind. Peridot could feel it and was going to ask if something was wrong when Lapis beat her to it, "Are you the real Peridot?"

"W-what the--? Of course, I am, you clod!" She yelled indignantly.

"Prove it to me. Tell me something that only both of us know about each other"

"After saving Steven, Connie and the Crystal Gems from the Diamonds, you gave me a huge bouquet of flowers as an apologize gift and promised me to never leave me again. That happened in private"

Lapis sighed again but with relief instead of anxiety. Yeah, it was the true Peridot.

"Thank stars... I thought one of those things was messing with me. I was looking for you and the rest of the group, but nothing and then... Then I found this place"

"You woke up in this forest?"

"That question means you are the second or first one to end up like me"

Lapis' eyes got wider when she noticed through a window an unwanted presence surrounding the shack. She took Peridot's hand quickly and led them both to the exit.

"You can tell me everything on the way. This house isn't safe anymore" her friend tensed at those words but said nothing, kind of guessing who or what the svelte's gem was referring to.

Both gems approached the dark forest again. Lapis took a single glance at the shack to make sure that thing wasn't following them. 


	3. Chapter 3

Walking through a snow-covered forest may be boring if it weren't for the fact that some weird creature was behind them and could easily destroy them which made the experience the more 'No, thank you' for Peridot.

At least the pro of this mess was having Lapis' hand clutching hers tightly, though her cheeks being a darker green was just a coincidence. No less no more. 

Lapis, in a second, tugged at her a bit harshly making her trip and send her face to the snow. She got up and spit the bits and pieces of the chill, white substance. 

"Lapis!! Stars, what the heck is your problem?!" 

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that I thought I saw it again" She said while looking at the many trees with her guard incredibly high. Peridot sensed the blue gem was trying hard to not let her anxiety get the best of her which she could understand because being in this forest was nothing but a mystery that they didn't want to solve. 

"I get that dealing with whatever you have to deal with is increasing your stress and paranoia, and trust me, it's kind of the same with me. But, now that I think of it, our best and only solution is you flying us away from this place" 

"I can't" Lapis murmured, her voice so low that Peridot couldn't hear the reply. "Come again?" 

"I. Can't" the water gem responded, her body language exuding vulnerability. Peridot's mouth opened but Lapis took her turn to talk "I'm not lying if that is what you're thinking. Peridot, when I woke up in this forest I tried to fly and return where you and the others were but I couldn't. I checked on my gemstone and there were no cracks, though that doesn't explain why my powers aren't working"

' _Strange_ ' the green gem mused, wondering how that could be possible. Then she touched her gemstone, just to make sure everything was alright. Yep, smooth and intact. Now the question was if her powers were disabled like Lapis'. Too bad there was no metal to test on.

"OK, so, let's make a summary of all of this, alright?"

"First, we need to keep moving. That thing and this place are giving me the creeps" Lapis hugged herself, an old habit of hers whenever the situation reached a high level of stress.

Peridot took her hand gently and smiled at her to cheer her up. "You know, I get it. No understanding what's going on can be scary, but we can get through this together. But no more tugs. Seriously, my legs aren’t as long as yours and you know I can't shape-shift"

"Deal. Let's go" Lapis returned the smile and both keep walking, this time at the same rhythm, holding hands. "So, as I said before, we need to summarize our situation. First, both of us woke up in this creepy forest with no recollection of how we ended up here or what we were doing before that. Second, it seems that for some unknown reason your powers have been neutralized despite your gemstone being intact. I can't test mine because there's no metal here. And third, it seems that we aren't the only ones in this forest because some robed-like creatures are roaming this place"

'She saw them too?!' Lapis stopped walking, alarmed at what Peridot had said seconds ago. She took her by the shoulders so both of them could be face to face. "Did you see them? Did they hurt you?"

"W-What are you talking about?" Peridot's body tensed up due to Lapis quick change of behavior. Sometimes it was harder reading the blue gem than building a robot in an hour.

"Those things. Those creatures that look like someone was covered by a cloth and levitating. Have you seen them?"

Peridot draw a mental image of it and her face paled after recognizing it. "You too?! You have encountered them?!"

"Yeah. When I tried to attack using the snow or at least fly away, that's when I found out my powers weren't working. Then I found an old shack and stayed there until you came"

"One of those things was chasing me when I noticed it from the corner of my eye! Then I ran away from it because I didn't have metal to use as a weapon!"

Lapis deflated at their whole situation. It was the first time she was REALLY vulnerable and helpless despite Peridot being with her. She still wasn't that used to fight like the others, it took her a lot of time to gather courage enough to fight the Diamonds and be more confident with her powers and capabilities, and now...

Well, dwelling on the past wasn't going to change anything, was it?

"We know two things: one, that you don't know if you can use your powers yet, and two, Steven will find a way to rescue us, so we can put an end to this mess"

"Yeah! My ferrokinesis can be extremely useful for self-defense and offensive tactics if your hydrokinesis is still pffft. No offense at all. Besides, our friends may be close to this forest to get us out!" Peridot's confidence made the svelte gem smile and relaxed a bit. It was in times like this that her companion's energetic personality was needed the most.

"That's right. Well, even if I want you to use your powers on those creatures, I don't want you to get hurt. Better to find an exit or wait for Steven and the others to come" now Lapis was the one taking a hold of Peridot's hand, squeezing it a bit to show she was more confident now and to release some stress.

The green gem grinned, happy to see her friend more hopeful than before and advanced with Lapis at her side, not noticing the dark figure camouflaged between the shadows of the trees. 


	4. Chapter 4

How much time had they been walking through the forest? Neither Lapis nor Peridot knew the answer, and by just looking at the sky anyone could have an idea that time was irrelevant in wherever they were. There was no change in its colors, just white and dark grey mixed.

Stars, it was so boring and frustrating! Here they were, Lapis and she -Peridot- trying to find a way home and elude the mysterious creatures, and still nothing!

Were they lost? Why they hadn't found a single human yet? Apart from the shack Lapis had found, there were no other signs of civilization.

"Something's bothering you?" the blue gem asked her which got Peridot out of her thoughts. "Oh! Uh, well, it's just that we were walking for, I don't know, hours maybe? And we still haven't found something or someone to help us"

Lapis nodded in understanding and give Peridot's hand a little squeeze to comfort her. "Maybe this forest is too big". Her green companion scoffed "Yeah, right. Well, even if it is a big forest or a small one, there is no reason for it to be so desolated. There should be some animal or human around here"

Lapis thought for a second about that comment. Peridot was right, if she could find that shack then there should be some people living a bit farther, but their luck is as kind as this freezing weather, so nope. Nothing. Which was strange. "Before you found me in that shack, I had been looking for its owner but it was so dark inside. Besides, one of those creatures was surrounding the house a bit later when we met. I didn't want to be near it so I escaped with you, but I should've at least looked a bit deeper for some clues"

"It's not your fault. We don't know what those things are capable of, your powers aren't working and I don't have metal objects to defend us"

"I don't want to think about it, but--" She paused which concerned her green companion, Lapis just sighed and let it go "What if something is wrong with me? My gemstone is in good conditions but I can't use my hydrokinesis and I don't know why. I wonder if this is something Steven can heal"

"Hey, I'm a former kindergardener. Maybe I can find out what is wrong with it and see if it can be fixed" Lapis brightened more due to Peridot's consideration and let her check her gemstone. With all the time they have spent and learned together, the blue gem had gained more trust in her green companion like she did with Steven in regarding of letting Peri touch the most vulnerable part of her.

The little gem checked Lapis' gemstone with an eagle eye. Some minutes passed which made the blue gem nervous, wondering if there was truly something bad within herself that was preventing her to use her powers. Peridot caressed the gemstone to check on inner damage but nothing. It was intact.

"So... Uh... I don't know how to say this but this symptom is a case too rare for my knowledge to get a conclusion" Peridot was trying very hard to think of a common reason for Lapis to be unable to use her hydrokinesis, though her minds was in blank and her face showed shock, confusion and other emotions she was holding back. Lapis didn't like that.

"What did you find?" the ocean gem asked a bit afraid.

"Physically speaking, your gemstone is fine. No scratches or cracks. But..."

"But?" Peridot didn't respond and Lapis took her from the shoulders "Please tell me!"

"The color of your gemstone is changing. It is a mix of blue and dark gray that it's turning to black"

That wasn’t what she was expecting to hear at all. And then...

"Peridot, your gemstone! It-It is happening in your gemstone too!" that shook the other gem greatly. She touched her gemstone and didn't feel anything weird, but from Lapis' scared voice she could imagine the same situation.

"Oh stars! Is it too black or too gray or something?!"

"Not too much. But it is spreading slowly. What about mine, though? Was it that bad?"

"There is still blue in your gemstone, though if this symptom is a sign of corruption then we don't have much time. We MUST find Steven"

Corruption. That word was haunting. Becoming a mindless, savage beast and being poofed and bubbled for an indefinite period of time was worse.

"We don't know if it's corruption. I still feel the same. But my powers are another story"

"Ok, ok. Let's not panic. It can't be that bad. I mean, maybe we didn't know about this condition because we were so caught up in finding each other and discovering how we ended up here. So, what about this? Let's look for some metal so I can test if I still have my powers and from there we make a plan"

Peridot's bravado was wavering. Lapis had no doubt about it, but for her green companion's sake she smiled determined to get this over with together. They had each other, things would be alright.

The blue gem took Peridot's hand and stroke it gently to relieve the stress her friend was feeling and gaining more confidence too. When she saw the other smiling gratefully, she sighed, happy to have helped a bit. Lapis just hoped to be of more help if things got from bad to worse. 


	5. Chapter 5

"Lapis, look! A cemetery!" Peridot ran in an instant, her blue companion following her as fast as she could.

"A what?" Unlike the green gem, Lapis wasn't that interested in human architecture. 

"It's a place where humans put the lifeless bodies of their loved ones in holes and then start a ceremony to remember them. Which they do once in a while"

"And do you think there is metal in a place full of... Dead people?" Because going to such a morbid place in Lapis opinion didn't sound like a good idea.

"It's worth a shot. Besides, you found a shack, we now found a cemetery. That means we are close to a town. Maybe. But still, metal for now is the goal. I really need to test my powers"

Both gems approached the fence that surrounded the cemetery. Peridot climbed it and entered looking for some metallic object while Lapis checked for an entrance to the place and payed attention to every sound. Who knew if the robed-like creatures were still chasing them.

"Hey, Laz. I found a shovel!" Lapis ran to the little entrance of the cemetery; her friend positioned the object in front of her, anxious and excited a the same time. "Ok, let's do this" 

Peridot directed her hands at the griddle and concentrated. She imagined the piece of metal levitating, but still didn't hear anything nor felt the pull of her powers on the material. Peridot closed her eyes, her focus intensifying though the results were still the same. 

Lapis was getting more worried the more she looked. And knowing there were weird monsters trying to get at them wasn't helping with her anxiety. She closed her eyes and, much to her surprise, prayed for her friend to activate her powers.

5 minutes passed. Then 10. Then 20. Then half an hour. Did it matter? Maybe or maybe not. Time seemed irrelevant where they were, unless they were being attacked or something worse. And Lapis was getting impatient with--

"AAAAAHHHHH!!"

The blue gem's eyes snapped open in alarm, she looked around like expecting those things to come after them. Then she directed her gaze towards Peridot. Her stomach sank at seeing her so angry and helpless. 

"This doesn't make any cloddy sense!!" the green gem kicked the shovel and then yelled, clutching the tip of her left right foot, gritting her teeth in confusion and despair. 

Lapis sat beside her and rubbed circles on her back to help her relieve some of the anger. She was going to say something cheerful or hopeful, but what would they gain with that? They were lost, unable to use their powers, without memories about how they ended up in the forest, chased by robed-like creatures. 

She then remembered when she talked to Steven in the moon about her anxiety and fear related to the Diamonds coming to Earth, how uncertainty clouded her mind. Then Steven's words resonated within her with faith and love: ' _What if something good happens?_ '

He was a beacon of light when things were so dark for her, now she wanted and should be the same for Peri. "H-Hey, you know, even if you can't use you powers it doesn't mean we can't return to home. Something good will happen." 

"You don't know that" Peri stated grumpily "In fact, not knowing is becoming the bane of this incredibly unwanted and unnecessary adventure!" she rubbed at her eyes to prevent some tears from falling. Lapis side-hugged her. 

"What are we going to do? I'm useless without my powers!" 

"You're not" Lapis voice was uncharacteristically firm and determined, but Peridot was too tired to notice "Peri, even in front of the Diamonds, you showed more strength and bravery than anyone. And I'm not saying this out of pity but because it's true" 

"Still, we can't defend ourselves now. What If those things ambush us? We'll be dead!" 

"Let's use what we have with us. Like this" the blue gem took the shovel "Remember what you told me when I, you know, broke your tape recorder? Back then?" 

"'What?! Were you trapped in a tape recorder too?!' Are you talking about that?" 

"No, silly. I'm talking about not being alone anymore. 'You don't have to be alone'. Well, even if we don't know what is going to happen and we can't use our powers, we aren't alone. We have each other. That's what you told me a Crystal Gem is about, so don't give up yet. We can still make it"

Peridot observed her friend's smile for a long time. Her expressions started changing from desperate to 'Ready for action', she stood up and took a long breath to order her thoughts. "I'm still mad and confused about why our abilities have been neutralized... But you're right. Losing hope is not an option. Steven and the others are waiting for us and we'll find them even if we have to cross paths with those mysterious creatures! And heck if I'm gonna stay ignorant of our gemstones' condition and why we can't use our powers!"

Lapis smiled at her companion's renewed energy, "That's right! Because no one can defeat the unbeatable and lovable Peridot!" 

"Yeah, no one can! Not even that robed-like creature who is some meters behind us!"

'Wait what?!' Lapis turned around and her face paled at seeing one of those things again, advancing smoothly and fastly towards them. Immediately, she took Peri in her arms alongside the shovel, jumped the fence and got out from the cemetery while looking behind if she had made space between her and that monster or whatever it was. 

It was still advancing at the same pace, she couldn't see its eyes but still, being chased by that thing was unnerving. "Why didn't you tell me it was still chasing us?!" she yelled at Peridot while running. 

"Hey, don't look at me! I was too focused in regaining hope because of my powerless situation!" the green gem peeked over Lapis' shoulder and grimaced which her friend didn't take positively. "Now what?" 

"You'd better know how to use that shovel because it is going faster."

Lapis' legs accelerated like she was in a deathly marathon, the thing unfortunately was levitating which made the chase easier for it. With every step, the blue gem felt her chances of getting away grow smaller; she tried to distract herself with the mantra 'Run, just run' repeated in her mind.

The wind brushing her face and hair, the coldness of the snow wetting her toes, the crunching of the twigs and dead leafs due to her sandals. She let those sounds drown the fear of being caught by the mysterious figure. 

In hindsight, she should've payed more attention to where she was going. Her left foot stepped onto something, a gooey black substance that clung to the foot like a claw, and then pain. Searing pain exploded in her whole left leg and expanded to her body. 

In a matter of seconds, Lapis fell to the ground; Peridot and shovel too, much to the green gem's alarm. "Lapis!" the former technician went to her aid and tried to carry her but her single touches escalated the pain. "N-No! Stop!" the ocean gem shouted, paralyzed by fear and pain. 

Her friend, though, didn't stop because the creature was very close to get them. "Lapis, please get up! That thing is just some meters from catching us, please!" Lapis turned around, horrified at the scene before her. That monster was still persecuting them! 

"P-Peridot... Take the shovel. Take it and go"

"What?! No way in hell I'm going to--" 

Lapis pushed her away harshly while glaring. "Just go! Save yourself! If you are caught too, I won't forgive you!" she yelled. 

Peridot was quiet and with tears filling her eyes. She tried once more time to help Lapis, but the blue gem stopped her by taking her hand and looking her seriously, "Just fucking go. NOW!!" 

The green gem shut her eyes, turned around and ran with the shovel in her arms. Lapis moved with huge difficulty and sat in the roots of a tree, looking for something to stop the thing that was just a meter from her. Her hand touched a little rock and she threw it at the creature. However, much to her surprise, the object was 'swallowed' by the darkness that conformed the figure's body. 

Lapis tried to get up to at least fight, but the more effort she put, the more sore and painful her body felt. The robed-like creature approached slowly and as much as Lapis attempted to see its face, she couldn't. Well, it's not that she believed it was human.

The figure's left hand stretched towards her. ' _So this is it. This is how I'll end... But at least, Peri is safe_ ' those were the last thoughts of Lapis Lazuli as blackness completely engulfed her vision.


	6. Chapter 6

Peridot's legs didn't feel like her own while running for her life. Her mind was in utter disarray: one half was yelling at her to accelerate unless she wanted to die; the other half was a mass of curses and regrets for leaving Lapis behind and in the hands of that thing.

She wanted to stop. Heck, her immaterial heart was trying to stop her whole body, but the more effort Peridot put into it, the more her legs got her away from Lapis. She didn't know what to do even when she knew what was the right thing to do, and it was so frustrating!

_**'What the hell are you doing you clod?! Come back!'** _

_'I can't! Lapis told me to run away!'_

_**'You can't just leave her like that! You must fight!'** _

_'And getting myself killed?! What about Lapis' sacrifice?!'_

_**'You have to do something!'** _

_'WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING?!'_

The green gem pulled at her hair, gritting her teeth while the tears ran through her cheeks. She needed to go back, but without powers what was she going to do?

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" a shriek of pure agony interrupted her train of thought. Peridot finally stopped and looked behind her, she was many kilometers far away from Lapis, but that shout seemed to be very close to her no matter how much she had ran. 

Another shriek scared Peridot deeply. Her overreactive imagination started conjuring horrible images of torture. That mysterious figure using whatever powers it had to play with her friend's life until getting bored and shatter her. 

"No! Don't think about those things, you clod! Keep running!" Peridot turned back and made a step, then two, then she stopped. Again the conflictive feelings roared in her mind: getting the hell away from that monster or helping Lapis. 

_'But... What if she's dead already? What if it's for nothing in the end?'_

Then the yelling stopped, though that didn't mean Peridot's worries did too. In fact, the silence only aggravated her anxiety. 

"Screw it! Lapis can hate me all she wants, but we're going to survive or going down together!" the former technician held the shovel with a vice grip and went back to where she left Lapis, praying that it wasn't too late to save her. 

Her legs, however, for some unknown reason felt heavy and sore, like she was carrying pounds of lead on them. Whatever, that didn't matter, Lapis' life was on the line. 

Peridot accelerated with all her might, the trees becoming a dark blur that confused her, there were so many and she could potentially get lost or fall into a trap. But her resolution moved her forward, towards she believed the creature and Lapis were; the green gem didn't have a plan to fight the figure except throwing the shovel at its face, 'I _will use a distraction. I will use ANYTHING! And Lapis and I will get out of here!'_

Minutes passed but Peridot felt like she wasn't getting any closer to Lapis. Then, between the roots of a tree she saw a body. The appearance modifiers were recognizable even from kilometers. "Lapis!!" Peridot ran faster and inspected her friend's condition. 

The ocean gem was unconscious, but she didn't look like she was breathing, though gems didn't need it. And her blue skin had many gray spots as if she had played with gray paint. Was that some symptom of corruption or weird impurities? No, wait, Lapis could only have golden freckles as impurities not those splashes.

"Lapis, hey, Lapis! Come on, wake up!" she didn't respond. Peridot took a look at her gemstone and could barely believe it. There were big dark spots that were expanding and taking over the color blue of Lapis' gemstone. Was that the work of that monster that was chasing them? 

"Lapis, please! Wake up! We have to keep going! Please, Lapis! Don't leave me hanging!" the former technician shook her body while holding back tears. What was going on?! 

\-----------------

Darkness. Around her everything was just that, an immense ocean of silence and darkness. Her limbs felt like ice, cold and hard, and her head was a cacophony of shouts, explosions and falling debris. 

Uh... What a curious way to describe her mind. 

"Uh? W-Where am--?" the blue gem's eyes opened suddenly, her gaze directed to different angles. There was nothing to see but blackness. 

"What is this place? Am-Am I dead?" that might be, right? Though she couldn't quiet remember. She screwed her eyes shut trying to make sense of what was happening. 

' _That thing was in front of me. It extended her hand towards me... I can't remember more_ ' It wasn't right. She should remember!

Willing her body to move, she floated? Swam? How Lapis could know? In a dimension where color black was the only thing surrounding you, it was impossible to distinguish up from down. 

"Hello? Hello?! Is anybody here?" She was answered with silence. It was eerie. Her arms wrapped around herself in a way to bring some comfort, though the shivers running through her spine didn't stop. 

"Is this really what humans calls Afterlife? Or is it the end of existence?" 

"--ou... --eat --e" 

"Uh?" what was that? "Is someone there?" 

"--or...! --e --t --k!" 

So, she wasn't alone in that void. That was a good sign, she guessed. Now the question was what the hell was that voice saying. It sounded distorted, fragmented and very far away from where Lapis was. Was it a foe? A friend? Maybe neutral? 'Focus, Lapis. Listen closely!' she admonished herself, not thinking in anything while waiting for the strange voice to talk again. 

"--s... --ge!" there it was! But she couldn't understand that either, and responding to that voice without knowing if it was a foe or an ally didn't seem a good idea. 'But what other options do I have?' Zero. That's the number. So, going against her best judgement she shouted to wherever the voice was. 

"Please, tell me who you are! Where are you?! Please!" 

"... --ols! ...--nk's --ds!" the voice wasn't still making sense, but it sounded clearer now. Suddenly, Lapis noticed from meter away from her a round, silver surface that looked -much to her wariness- like a mirror. Was she... No, impossible! She wasn't stuck again in that goddamn object like thousands of years ago! 

"Calm down, Lazuli. Just calm down and find a way to get out of here". Hugging herself, she amounted enough courage to go check on the silver surface and heard a strangely familiar sound: static. Like the one coming from a TV. And the more she approached the surface-like mirror, the louder she could hear it. And what big her surprise was at seeing that the mysterious mirror was like a broken TV, with its static sound and nothing but a sea of infinite white, black and gray little dots moving. 

What if by breaking the static-like mirror she got free? That was a good question she needed to answer for herself, so Lapis puts a fighting position and with all her might punched the mirror. The outcome wasn't what she expected, if she was honest. 

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!" she covered her ears as a wave of war screams, panicked cries and high-pitched mocking laughter crashed with her. The pieces of glass from the mirror levitated and got bigger, becoming static-y screens that showed moving pictures, poorly drawn like if they were a toddler's creation. 

Lapis looked at every scene they showed. Some where of landscapes divided by deeps rifts made by earthquakes, a blue sea turning sickeningly red-pink, people screaming for help on the streets, a giant something looming over some people. 'What are those images? Are they my memories?' Lapis surprised herself at that realization, yeah, maybe they were! She could get her answers! 

She ran, no caring how the wave of maddening sounds overwhelmed her ears, and touched one of the fragmented screens. 

In hindsight, she should've thought a bit better about that plan.

The moving images froze and the screen shape-shifted into a sharp, elastic spike that stabbed her in the stomach. And not only that one, the others too. One by one, the rest became deadly spikes attacked her, and then hell began. 

Excruciating, crazy pain exploded inside her body, her shouts becoming part of the sea of noise. The blue gem could feel everything and anything, it was so numbing and agonizing that she couldn't get it. It was like being hit by incredibly fast asteroids that came back to tackle you again and again; crashing to earth thousands of times and being scrubbed on the ground violently as if you were sandpaper by a giant; falling apart from the inside in the most terrifying way.

But the worst part was her gemstone. It was burning her, kind of ironic because her element was water, but still. Having the sun on her back was nothing compared to that sensation, it couldn't even be labeled as pain.

She wanted it to stop! She wanted the pain of the stabs, the fire in her gemstone, and even the mocking laughter that was sinking her mind to FUCKING get lost!!

Her whole body was losing its own grip. Glitching madly, distorting, twisting. The terror she felt in the Gem War or knowing the Diamonds were coming back to Earth paled in comparison with that nightmarish experience. 

'WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?! SOMEONE, HELP ME!!!' And when it couldn't get worse, she exploded. Blinding light taking over the dark void.

\----------------

"Blaaaaaarrrrgghh!" the sound of vomiting woke up Peridot immediately from her nap. She looked to her friend and was shocked with horror at was Lapis was expulsing from her body. A night-black, oozing substance that looked like a mix of brea and acid made a disgusting poodle in the snow. 

After some minutes vomiting, Lapis shivered exhausted. Her tear-filled eyes opened and looked desperately for some help until she felt gentle hands rubbing circles in her back and wrapped her in a kind hug. 

"It's ok, Laz. I'm here. I-I'm here" Peridot tried to not let the crack in her voice be noticeable and inhaled a big gulp of air to calm herself down. "I was so sick worried about you. I-I thought you would never wake up". Some tears ran through her green cheeks which Lapis' trembling, weak hand dried lovingly. 

"It's good to...see you again..." the blue gem was between falling unconscious again and stay awake. She was so tired. She wanted to sleep. Wait, no! No sleeping! What if she was back to that void full of noises and hellish pain. The svelte gem'd rather die than go through that again. 

With all the strength she could muster, Lapis sat, Peridot helped her support her back on a tree trunk while looking at her worriedly, anxiously. "Hey, change...that face, you d-dork. I'm ok" the ocean gem caressed Peridot's cheek, smiling at her to relieve the tension.

The former technician grabbed her hand like it was a lifeline and sniffed a bit. "Don't you dare to do that again, you clod! If we're going to get out of this stupid forest, it will be together, got it?" Lapis snorted but nodded nonetheless. She didn't know in which part of the forest they were or why Peridot decided to come back for her, but she didn't care at all. She was happy to have her green companion at her side. 

However, her relief was short-lived at seeing the condition in which Peridot was. Her gemstone had black spots that were spreading, slowly but spreading. Her body had grey splotches in many zones and in the center of them, dark cracks-like veins growing larger. 

"P-Peridot, y-your body! Your gemstone! W-What happened?!" 

"Oh! Oh..." the green gem grimaced, not knowing how to explain what had happened while Lapis was unconscious. She laughed nervously and then closed her eyes, gritting her teeth due to a sudden migraine. 

"Peridot!" Lapis tried to tend to her but her body was so sore for the pain that there was no energy left to move, that and the former technician stopped her from doing something. "It's alright, just an annoying headache" 

"What happened?" 

Peridot sighed, massaging her temples a bit to alleviate the pain. "I was against the idea of leaving you behind, even when you told me to. I ran as fast as I could to save you from that thing. But when I found you..."


	7. Chapter 7

_If there was something Peridot hated of the frozen forest, apart of being stranded there without a single clue of why and how, that was not finding anything remotely different in the scenery. Everything was black, white and grey like those old human movies that lacked any color. Only threes, the gray-ish sky and no sign of life around her and Lapis._

_Yep, depressing._

_At least she had Lapis at her side. Though, she was really worried about her condition. It had already passed half an hour -if her calculations were right- and the blue gem hadn't woken up yet. Having to carry her body on her back while watching and listening with the best of attention for any threats was really exhausting. At least, she was lucky it was Lapis the one she had to carry because if it were Garnet or Bismuth, that would have been impossible._

_Peridot glanced at her companion with anxious eyes. Part of the blue gem's face was tainted with those gray splotches along with other parts of her body, and she seemed to have a troubled dream or something. Whatever she was dreaming seemed pretty painful; just looking at her whole condition reminded Peridot of Pumpkin's symptoms of putrefaction before she died._

_The green gem shook her head. There was no time to dwell in past losses, besides, Lapis would be fine! They would find a way out of the forest and take a long, well-deserved vacation in their home, Little Homeworld. And stay very, VERY far away from anything forest-related._

_"Mmmm... Mmmmhhmmm" Peridot glanced at Lapis again and saw her eyebrows getting together in an uncomfortable expression._

_"Lapis, hey, wake up" the former technician patted her friend's cheek to no avail. Then, suddenly, a gray splotch in the ocean gem's shoulder grew a bit larger much to Peridot's shock. Her steps became frantic while she looked everywhere for a place to rest and check on her friend, but the forest was so dense and silent that it would be suicide to take a break where those goddamn creatures could hunt them down._

_"D-Don't worry, Laz. We'll get out of here. Just hold on" She said with strong resolution. Despite feeling her legs going stiff for moments and hurt terribly, that didn't stop Peridot to continue walking through the forest in hopes to find an exit or a safer place to rest._

_Minutes passed, the green gem didn't know how many but what she was aware of was the irregular pain in some zones of her body. 'Stars... What now?' she thought tiredly and looked at the palm of her right hand._

_Let's just say, the surprise she got wasn't pretty at all._

_"W-What the--?!" a big gray spot was there, but that wasn’t the worst part. In the center of the spot, there was a black point that grew bigger while many veins-like lines expanded from it. Was she corrupted too?!_

_"Ok, ok. Calm down, Peridot. You're still sane, still thinking clearly and remembering who you are. This... This is nothing" a voice in her head told her otherwise which didn't help with her high anxiety._

_She kept walking, kept looking for a refuge and taking short glances at Lapis -still unconscious- whose body's condition wasn't any better. "You know, L-Laz... I don't want to remind you this, though I doubt you can hear me, but this issue is reminding me of many bitter things"_

_Peridot wasn't that sure of why she was talking when it was clear only she could respond, but at least that calmed her nerves. The deafening silence of the forest was so overwhelming that at any moment the former technician could imagine one of those things appearing in an instant to kill them both._

_Her voice alongside carrying Lapis' body gave her something to hold on, for her sanity was slipping quickly as her fears drowned her rationality. "Y-You remember Pumpkin, right?" She scoffed a bit at herself for that question "Stupid. Of course, you do. W-Well, when you left to the moon, Pumpkin was very sad... Like me. And, you would have seen her face when you came back! Though you did, you know? Pumpkin was as happy as I. We were finally together. L-Like a family" some tears fell from her eyes, but Peridot ignored them "We've been so d-distraught when w-we knew that Pumpkin's life span was very short... That she'd be gone"_

_The green gem sniffed. Then she stopped after hearing something, her gaze directed to the source of the sound, but found nothing. Maybe her imagination. She shook her head and looked at Lapis who was still dealing with some kind of pain in her unconsciousness. Peridot continued talking, "We were a mess... I was trying so hard to find a way for her to live l-longer, a-and you were putting on a brave face for me. Y-You know, I considered it cute. Endearing. I even wanted to thank you for that but... But... We were so caught up in trying to make sense of what was happening that there was no chance to appreciate what the other was doing to improve the really stressful situation. I was so busy in making a long-life potion for Pumpkin, and you in helping me while being as strong as you could so I didn't fall apart that we just... I even remember the fight we had. Steven told us Pumpkin would die, I didn't want to believe it and you were pacing from one side to the other of our house, not knowing what to do... When you tried to comfort me, I exploded and ran away with Pumpkin. You then found me in a forest, crying, being pathetic... I thought you were being too optimistic for putting on a brave face for me, and you snapped at me for not seeing that you were just trying to help the same way I did for you in the past... We cried, we hugged each other, and... And we gave Pumpkin the last best moments of her life... She deserved it a-after all..."_

_Crack! Peridot froze and looked around her for any threat that could be hidden in the trees' shadows. Nothing. Her right foot that was consumed in seething pain -though Peridot didn't notice because of her monologue- had broken a twig. She put it away with her foot and kept walking, Lapis' painful murmurs distracting the green gem some times._

_"Why am I telling you this? You may ask w-why, right? Well, t-the point is that, I love you... You're the only family I have left. Sure, I also have Steven and the Crystal Gems, Bismuth and Connie, but being with you, knowing you, helping you to be better, spending time with you, even mourning Pumpkin's death together, all of that makes me see that you're the most important person in my life... I don't know what I would do without you. The mere thought of losing you is too painful and terrifying for me to face. And I know the sentiment is mutual. So, L-Lapis, don't leave... Wake up..." Peridot shook her head once again, her eyes were losing vision no matter how much she tried to get rid of the water in them._

_One of her hands rubbed her eyes, feeling the tears that were clouding them. She sighed bitterly, here she was, powerless in a forest, her friend unconscious and Peridot only resorted to let her fears out and cry. This wasn't a solution at all and to top it all, she had been crying in the whole monologue._

_"U-Uggghhh... Stupid headache" and now she had to deal with that too. Great, marvelous. As if she didn't have enough problems already on her plate. She really deserves a-- "Aaaaahhhhhh!!!!" the headache intensified tremendously. It was like having a drill trying to drill her gemstone at high velocity._

_Some gray spots appear in her body but she didn't notice them. This, whatever it was affecting her gemstone so ruthlessly, wasn't a migraine but a mix of punches and explosions all concentrated in the core of her being. It was that hellish that Peridot accidentally let her unconscious friend to fall in the snow and got to her knees. More tears were gathering at her eyes, which made it difficult for her to see her surroundings if a new threat came to kill them._

_Then, the forest, the snow-covered ground, the sky and everything else disappeared, being replaced with utter destruction. There was a giant creature trying to hit something and breathing fire, though she couldn't recognize it. Her surrounding were too blurry, like her eyes were submerged in murky water._

_The sounds didn't make sense either. It was a complete chaos. Yelling, words and fighting overlapped each other while attempting to take over the other ones._

_Peridot's head swiveled around, trying to find a reason as to why she teleported (?) to another place. First the little gem was in the forest, carrying Lapis and now she found herself in some, some... Jungle engulfed in fire._

_Some meters away from her, Peridot saw three people fighting each other, or two against one to be exact. They were impossible to recognize, goddamn time for her to be almost blind; one of them was inside a robot if Peridot got it right, the other one was flying. Both were facing person number three, whose agility made things pretty difficult for their adversaries._

_"Hey, hey! Please, help me! I need to come back, my friend needs me!" she yelled but they didn't listen. "Hey, I know you guys have some important things to deal with! But Lapis is in danger! Please help me!" Again, nothing. She was wondering if her voice wasn't raised enough for them to stop or if they were too caught up in their feud to care._

_Going there and cease the fight was suicide. Peridot's metal powers still didn't work nor she had resources to defend herself, and the situation was getting more confusing for her tastes, but she had to try. For Lapis._

_The noises got worse and louder when she reached the battlefield, those three strangers still didn't notice her presence but that was alright. Once she put herself in the middle and shouted with all her might, they would stop and help her._

_"STOP! STOP THIS INSTANT!" Peridot's voice resonated through the air, or so she desperately hoped. Then she kind of saw a pink-ish blur going right to her or to one of the people in the battle -she didn't know, but it was so fast that the green gem didn't have time to evade it. Then the hellish sensation of distortion in her body. Like every particle was exploding, reforming and next exploding with double force than before._

_And her gemstone... Oh stars, it felt like a roaring black hole trying to swallow her. Pain, powerful hits, twisting and chaotic noise overwhelmed her entire being to the point of madness._

_'No... Nonononono! I can't give up! I can't right now! Please, someone stop this! Someone, please!' her tears filled her eyes and fell to the icy ground. A nerve-wracking headache expanded to all her body, Peridot even thought she heard a crack in her gem and cried. Her shriek bringing blackness to her mind as she fell unconscious._

\-------------------

"When I woke up, I was almost covered in snow and there was some kind of shadow, very big by the way, that was looking at me. I jolted and tried to fight it but it vanished instantly. Then I got you out of the snow too and keep walking, and now we're here in this clearing and still lost. But, hey! You're alive, I'm alive, so no worries! Ow!" Peridot brought her hands to her gemstone and hissed painfully due to another stinging migraine.

Lapis was slack-jawed at how much her friend put herself in danger to save the blue gem even when her ferrokinesis couldn't work. "Peri, I-I'm sorry. I shouldn’t be such a burden to you"

Peridot looked at her in disbelief. "What the heck are you talking about, you clod?! You would've done the same for me! Besides... Besides... I didn't want to l--"

"You didn't want to lose me, I know. I may not be conscious back then, but I feel the same towards you"

"Uh, what?" the green gem raised an eyebrow, pretty confused. Lapis smirked a bit, "What? Don't play dumb, Peri. You just said it, remember? Besides..." she got serious in an instant "I'd rather die than losing you too. When Pumpkin... When she passed away, it was so difficult for me to smile again. It was a big blow for us. I tried to be strong like you because that's what you needed. Peridot, you're my family not only when we became friends, reconciled after I came back and now facing whatever this mess is. I love you too"

Peridot's cheeks darkened and she could feel the heat coming out of her ears like steam. ' _Just now and we are dealing with a confession. And this isn't Camp Pining Hearts!_ ' her head was a maelstrom of conflicting emotions, but when the little gem was going to say something, her left leg collapsed for the soreness created by those gray spots.

"Oh stars! Peridot, are you ok?!" Lapis hugged her before her friend reached the snow-covered ground, and kept her close to her chest. The former technician blushed profusely, her arms immediately wrapped around Lapis mid-section, and she looked at the ocean gem with a mix of hope and fear.

"L-Laz? Lapis? If, you know, for some reason we don't make it -which I don't want to imagine and neither you-, then I will tell you how I feel. At least, to go on without regrets... And I want you to do the same. Being honest with each other even if our somber circumstances demand something different from us. Ok?" Lapis nodded while gulping a bit.

"We were enemies before. You were my informant and prisoner, I was your captor. I hurt you, I showed you that I changed for the better thanks to Steven. It was a tough journey when we started living together in the barn. You didn't trust me, you were really mad at me and wanted me to leave. But, with time and effort, we made a new life on Earth. Then... Well, then..."

"Then I left you behind because I was too scared to face the Diamonds or another war. It was a huge mistake" Lapis intervened somberly.

"Yeah, and then you came back and helped us to defeat the Diamonds. And when we returned from Homeworld, you and I talked things through, you apologized and our relationship got better and stronger than before. We were happy, the three of us. Pumpkin, you and I... Until she passed away. And now that we're in this situation, I came to the conclusion that my feelings towards you are deeper and more meaningful than when we were friends..." Peridot swallowed, preparing herself for what she was going to say "W-What I'm trying to convey is that... I fell in love with you"

Lapis tightened her hug and smiled sweetly. "Me too. You're the best that happened in my life. I'm sorry if I didn't express it too much" at that Peridot snorted a bit "Well, that's the past now. We don't have to worry about it anymore"

"Peridot"

"Yeah?"

"This is off-topic but, do you really think we can't make it?"

Oh.

"W-Well... We don't know where to go, our powers are neutralized, we don't have a map and those things are looking for us. Also, our bodies are going through some unwanted, painful and mysterious changes. I still don't know if it is because of the creatures or some corruption-related problem. Besides, without Steven or his maternal unit's healing fountain, we can't be healed. BUT I just went into the hypothetical case of not surviving this ordeal because it could give more emphasis in what I wanted to tell you... My feelings towards you"

"This was a very touching confession from you part. It was much better than seeing Percy and Pierre taking many seasons to do it" Peri laughed at Lapis' reasoning a bit more at ease.

The blue gem then got up despite the numbness in her body. The gray spots had grown larger while she was unconscious, but she didn't care. Peridot got up too just to make sure her romantic partner (?) -is that how humans called them, right? - didn't collapse from exhaustion. "Are you sure you don't want some rest, Lapis? At this rate, you might poof"

"I haven't poofed yet, have I? Besides, you also need rest. Those weird black lines in your body give me the creeps and a bad vibe about this"

"Hey, it's not my fault that my appearance isn't aesthetically pleasant for you!" Lapis laughed at her tantrum and invited Peri to be carried in her back, ignoring the throbbing waves of pain her gemstone emitted. However, the former technician noticed her distress and tried to protest in behalf of Lapis' health, but the ocean gem calmed her down with a kind look. The green gem swallowed worriedly while getting comfortable in Lapis' back.

"Maybe we should walk side by side. You can get exhausted"

"It's ok, Peri. Let's find a way out of here first, then we can deal with what's happening to our bodies"

"Problem number 1, though: there is no map"

Uh, right. They needed a direction.

' _Ok, so, left? No, there is too much forest there. Right? The same, and maybe those things are there waiting for us. North? More forest and nothing. We have been walking and there is no sign of humans or gems around_ ' Lapis sighed bitterly. How much she wished for this to end and sleep for a good, whole week to forget this ordeal.

Then she spot something pretty far away. It looked like a... No, wait, it WAS a mountain, but the dark gray sky made it difficult to see. However, with some focus, Lapis could not only notice it but also a bit of light shining in the peak. That gave her an idea.

"Peri, look at that. Can you see that tiny light in the top of the mountain?"

"What mountain?" Lapis held Peridot's chin so her eyes were directed to where the svelte gem was watching. "Wait, wait" Peridot rubbed at her eyes to see better and then gasped "When that mountain appeared? We haven't seen it since this journey began!"

"The forest. It's too dense to see beyond the horizon, but this clearing makes it easier. I have an idea, or a theory, well either of both: what if that mountain is the limit of this forest? What if by reaching the light in the top, we can finally get out of here? Do you think it could work?"

Peridot placed a hand on her chin pensively. This could be a good idea and their only ticket to put an end to their senseless situation, or just a trap put by... Well, by whatever that was playing them like they were its toys. "Analytically speaking, we could save ourselves and even find answers about why our powers don't work and why our bodies are going through these changes, or die trying. But at least we have a goal now, a more tangible one, to be exact. So, yeah, it is worth a shot"

"It's settled then. To the mountain's light"

"Yeah, to the mountain's light!" Peridot exclaimed with renewed confidence though hissed a bit due to another migraine. Lapis grimaced after seeing her crush's gemstone getting more black splotches. She started walking fastly, praying this new plan of hers work for their sake.


	8. Chapter 8

Walking, tripping, falling to your knees, watching to every direction for threats, calming Peridot down whenever she tried to make you stop and take a break, and repeating the cycle again and again. At this point, Lapis wasn't sure if they were gonna make it, but she couldn't rest yet.

The mountain was still too far from where they were, which increased her stress and the painful waves of her gemstone didn't let her think clearly. The outcome of this: snapping clumsily and falling to the snow alongside Peridot.

"Ouch! Lapis, are you ok?!" the green gem checked her companion's condition and grimaced: the gray splotches on Lapis' body were now a medium size, her gemstone was getting blacker and the ocean gem was getting weaker with every second that passed.

"I-I'm f-fine... Just... Just got mad at myself. This path is too long... I'm just too tired to continue..." Peri put Lapis' head her lap and caressed her blue-gray hair kindly to comfort her. One of her hands went to the triangular gemstone of her forehead and massaged it in the useless attempt to alleviate another potent headache.

The former technician gave a fast check on her own body, sighing somberly. Gray splotches and black lines that looked like veins covered a 67% percent of her being, if her calculations were right. She could be crying right now due to the pain, but she was too drained to even shed a tiny tear. Lapis lifted one of her hands and touched Peri's cheek, smiling at her sweetly to cheer her up, it worked even if it was for a bit.

"Maybe we should lean on each other, Lapis. If you keep overexerting yourself, you're gonna poof for real"

"Y-You're right... I'm sorry if me shouting and kicking the ground scared you" Peridot smiled at her to make her know it was alright. The blue gem got up slowly and hardly, leaning on Peridot to not lose her balance while the other remained still as best as she could to not fall.

Both gems placed their arms around each other and started walking a bit faster, eyes and ears open to any danger that might be spying on them. "How are we going to escalate the mountain and get to the light with our deplorable conditions?" Peri's question froze Lapis instantly but just for seconds. She didn't think about it, in fact, the plan was to reach the peak of the mountain to get to the other side, but the process simply eluded her.

"I... I don't know... Oh stars, Peridot, I don't know! What if we go that far for nothing?!"

At hearing her distress, the former technician side-hugged her to calm her down. "Hey, hey, it's ok though. We can move, though with too much pain and hardship, we can think clearly and by working together, we can reach the light. So for now, let's just focus on getting to the mountain, the rest will come... Eventually"

"Yeah... Eventually" It wasn't the best encouragement from Peridot but she took it nonetheless. However, there was another issue to take care of. "Peri, while I was unconscious, I thought I saw my memories"

"Your memories? The ones that could explain why and how we ended up here in this gemforsaken forest?" the little gem's eyes were wide in surprise and anticipation for some well-needed answers. It was about time to get to the bottom of this.

"Exactly. There were images, though too distorted to make sense of them, I guess. But I could recognize some things: people running away in fear, the sea turning into pink-ish blood, fire, destruction, that maddening laughter"

"Maddening laughter? From who? Was there someone else inside your consciousness?"

"I think so. I heard a voice, it was saying something but I couldn't get it no matter how much I approached or tried to pay attention. Its words were fragmented. Then I heard static, like when we were in front of the TV and it got all black and white dots everywhere. There was..." Lapis gulped, her nerves tensing due to traumatizing memories of the Gem War "A mirror... A mirror that was in static like a TV" Peridot looked at her, confused.

Lapis stayed quite for some time, ordering her thoughts before continuing her tale, "I know it sounds weird but I didn't imagine it... Anyway, I broke the mirror and then a wave of sounds crashed at my ears. The strangest thing was seeing those pieces of glass from the mirror showing me those images. And then..."

"Then?" Peridot noticed that Lapis tensed too much, her muscles becoming hard as steel, so she pat her back kindly "If it's something stressful, it's ok. I won't push you" the ocean gem smiled. Inhale and exhale, she told herself to calm her nerves.

"What about your memories, Peri? Any luck?" the mechanic shook her head in negative but then she stayed silent, pondering about something. "Remember when I told you about my hallucinations and how blurry they were?" Lapis nodded "I think those were my memories. But... No, it might be too convenient."

"What if they were, though?"

"Then it would make no sense why they looked so hazy to me. There was a lot of chaos, sounds of destruction and people fighting each other for some reason. The robot, that person flying and the giant breathing fire... I mean, just try to link my memories with this situation: we are in a snow-covered forest, chased by robed-like creatures, our bodies are suffering inexplicable changes and our powers don't work. Back then, in my hallucinations or memories, I was in some kind of jungle, everything was a mess, no one could explain to me what was going on, so, how can someone go from a jungle to a forest in a snap?"

"Mask Island have a warp pad that I remember" Peridot sighed in defeat, it's not that what Lapis said wasn't true but she was missing the point. "Laz, we don't know if this forest has a warp pad. Besides, if it had one, we would have returned home already"

Lapis now was the one who fell into silence. She analyzed her own 'memories' carefully: the landscapes full of rifts, if she remembered right, and the bloody sea... If she, for some reason was in one of those locations, then how she woke up in a forest devoid of life and with those menacing, mysterious figures?

' _Peridot is right. None of this makes sense_ ' then a realization crossed her mind. Her green companion had told her about someone fighting and flying; the only person she knew that could fly was herself. Well, she AND Peridot because the engineer used a trash can lid as an aerial transport. But there was also Steven... Wait no, he had floating powers not flying ones. Amethyst, Garnet and Pearl were options too. They could shape-shift into something that could fly.

' _What about the robot? Did Peridot build one? But what if it was Bismuth? Wait, since when they built robots? That isn't necessary anymore, but then if there was someone else fighting them... Fighting us... Peridot probably built the robot and got help from someone else... Someone was fighting with her... But the landscapes and the sea...if those are my memories, then how could I be in two places at the same time? Something is very wrong_ '

Then she stopped walking, or Peri made her stop. The green gem was holding onto her romantic partner desperately, apprehension and fear shown in her face. "What happens, Peri?"

The mechanic just gulped while watching to every direction nervously, "I don't know if you have noticed it or not, but... Don't you think the forest has become more dense and darker the more we were walking forward?"

The ex-terraformer checked their surroundings, trepidation started running through her immaterial veins when she reconfirmed what Peridot said. In fact, the forest looked more like a black mass cornering them the more they walk. The trees were closer to each other to the point of fusing. She could hardly see the sky.

"Maybe we should, you know, go back and take another direction" Peridot trembled while saying that, holding onto the blue gem tightly. Lapis patted her little, green hands as consolation and looked behind her, the scenery was the same, full of trees and bushes creating a nature-like fortress. "I don't know if you can use your gemstone to light the path, Peri. That might be a good help right now"

"Unfortunately, no. If I can't use my ferrokinesis, then this other ability is discarded too"

"What about this? The light of the mountain is still visible, we'll use it as a path. We'll only watch it and nothing else while we walk at the same time"

"Mmmm... It may work. Alright, let's do it" both clung to each other much more than before and directed their eyes at the mountain's light, taking steps simultaneously, in a slow but consistent rhythm. With every step, the darkness of the forest grew over them but didn't took over the single light very far away of the gems.

Seconds became minutes that turned into an hour or two. Then Peridot pushed against something, a big, dense bush but couldn't go through which made her curse her predicament at being powerless and without resources. Lapis helped her by tearing apart some branches and dead leaves, her eyes still glued at the light of the mountain. When she finished making a path through the bush for Peri, the green gem lent her a hand too and both kept walking.

Suddenly, they heard a sound. A breeze, which was getting stronger. Then it came the sensation of cold. Bone-breaking cold caressing their legs as the South and North Pole were trying to trap them both in ice. The bushes and trees were closer to each other, the little light they had was diminishing, the more steps they made until...

"Aaaahhh!!" Lapis and Peridot fell to the snow-covered ground at the same time. The engineer was the first in getting up just to be surprised entirely with an utterly different scenery. "Laz, look!"

In front of them were frozen, almost white mountains that created a sort of path to the biggest one where the light was supposed to be. If what Peridot remembered of one episode of Camp Pining Hearts was right, they had entered to a mountain rage, and in the worst weather unimaginable. The sky was gray as always, it was snowing and the breezes seemed to stab at her hard-light, blue skin.

"No way" Lapis mumbled, astonished. She then turned around and her shock increased as much as her confusion: the forest that had wanted to trap them in darkness now was many, oh so many kilometers far away from the gems. "What on stars...?" Peridot shared the sentiments of such change of scenery, her mind was already done with too much nonsense so it put aside what they had seen.

"Ok, before we start wasting our time wondering about this mysterious phenomenon or freaking out about misdirection, can you see the light? My vision is not that good with this weather"

"I think I see it. Let's go" both walked fastly, approaching an old bridge (?) that was between the two mountains; Peridot took her romantic partner's hand and squeezed it to make her see what she was observing. At many feet high and still far away, was the mountain shedding its light from its peak that was actually divided in two.

"It's so beautiful..."

"Darn right it is, Laz. Our last hope to return home. So, let's not make it waiting!" the blue gem nodded, determined as her crush to meet their goal. They walked almost passing by the bridge when an unwanted presence caused the green gem to hide Lapis and herself under the structure, "Peri, what--?" the ocean gem couldn't end her sentence because her companion pointed to something.

The ex terraformer's eyes widened in terror at seeing again one of the robed-like creatures from the forest. It was flying and surveying the area. 'Stars, not this again... Didn't we lose them when we got out of that cursed place?' she hugged Peri to her chest and prayed for that thing to go away, to not notice them and use whatever powers it had to kill them. The shadow-like monster keep checking for new preys for some minutes until it got bored and went to another direction.

"Close one... Thanks, Peri" the little gem smiled at her, though a bit uneasily. Then a sharp pain took them by surprise, it was in the center of their gemstones and it spread through their bodies whose weird gray splotches and black veins-like lines -in Peridot's case- expanded more and more.

Lapis opened one of her eyes, horror stabbed at her heart when she saw Peri's gem lovely green being consumed by black spots, and her body... For Diamonds, it was in a worse condition than when they were still in the forest. She examined her own body, grimacing for the familiar blue was being replaced by gray. Heck, what her gemstone might have been going through was too horrible to imagine.

Like a lightning, the svelte gem took her companion in her arms and ran with as much energy her battered legs could give her through the snow, looking for a path. Her right was closed by medium, rocky mountains; her left, however, offered an entrance. Lapis went there without question.

Strange statues shaped as snakes/worms littered the area as some rocks. A powerful blizzard tackled Lapis whose arms encircled around a semi-unconscious Peridot protectively. The blue gem cursed her bad luck, if she had her powers, she could control the turned-into-snow water to protect herself and her crush and even fly to the top to the mountain. She kneeled, one of her hands stuck into the frozen ground to impede the icy wind to knock her down with the little gem in her arms.

The blizzard stopped which gave Lapis enough time to run again and get out of the passage, only for the climatic phenomenon to hit again. Fortunately, she was near a snake-shaped statue, so she used it as a shield against the wind. "Mmmmhhmmm... L-Lapis... W-Where--?"

The terraformer gem shushed her crush and clung to her as if Peridot was her teddy bear. When the blizzard stopped again, Lapis dashed desperately until she reached a mountain-made hallway and entered. Exhausted, her back collided with one of the rocky, chill walls, sliding down until the blue Crystal Gem was completely sitting.

An abrupt movement got her out of her sudden unconsciousness. Shaking her head to get rid of the urges to sleep, Lapis directed her gaze to Peridot whose eyes only showed concern and love. "--hear me, Lapis?"

The blue gem raised an eyebrow weakly but then smiled to not worry her crush. The engineer caressed her cheek, then patted it firmly to clear Lapis' mind of any drowsiness left. "Laz, hey Laz, can you hear me?"

"--nk so... Think so... I guess... W-What happened?"

"You fainted. I saw that you didn't respond to my words so I woke you up"

"At least you're alright" Lapis' smile caused Peridot's cheeks to blush profusely which she tried to hide in vain. "W-Well, it's not that I was going to leave you with all the-the work to protect me, you clod" the green gem faked a cough and helped Lapis to get up, putting her romantic partner's arms on her shoulders so she can lean on her and walk more easily.

"Are you sure my weight won't bother you?"

"As if, Lapis, we are barely hard-light projections of our gemstones. We can't be any lighter. Haha, got it? Because, you know, we're made of light"

"You really need to stop looking for more puns on the Internet" Lapis' tone was a mix of fondness and dryness. Peridot rolled her eyes and start walking, being careful of not making Lazuli to slip up.

The mountain-made hallway led to a clearing surrounded by snow-covered, rocky hills full with dark rock/metal signs (?). Peridot's curiosity got the better of her and approached one of them. It was long, not so much to be taller than her, didn't look like it was made of any material she has known either, its head was half-hexagonal and it had a hexagonal hole too. But the weirdest thing were the symbols engraved in its surface.

Peridot, before becoming a Crystal Gem, had read a lot of reports about many ancient languages of multiple sentient species whose planets were invaded and then colonized to expand the gempire. She still could remember the complex alphabets those creatures created, but the symbols in front of her weren't in her repertoire.

"Peri, it's cute watching you in your nerd mode, but have you forgotten there is a light we need to reach if we want to go home?"

If Lapis had had enough strength to be face-to-face with her crush, she would have seen the huge blush on her face. "I-I-I'm n-not cute, you clod. You're the one who's cute!"

"Did you just call me cute?" asked Lapis, half-surprised, half-amused. Peridot stammered and when she was going to respond, the blue gem just kissed her left cheek sweetly. "Y-You know, I kind of see something move some meters away, let's investigate it" the engineer accelerated making a bit difficult for Lapis to catch up with her despite leaning on her shoulders, but the ocean gem didn't mind at all.

The two gems went to their right after noticing the left blocked by rocky, frozen hills. There were more of those mysterious signs that this time Peri ignored, then just when they wanted it less, another of those ominous shadows was spot flying fastly to where they were.

Lapis discovered it first which prompted her to halt, "Laz, what's wrong?" Peri asked, concerned. Her companion mouthed silently 'dangerous shadow'; even when she didn't understand the message, Lazuli's terrified eyes were signal enough to find a way to hide from that thing again. They dug a hole in the snow big for both of them and covered themselves with from head to toe with the white substance, leaving a bit of space uncovered so they could see the threat's movements.

The shadow surveyed the area carefully, its slowness was driving both gems insane with anxiety until it finished and flew away. Still, Lapis and Peridot waited for some minutes until they felt everything around them was danger-free and continued in a rush to not being surprised by more of those creatures.

After climbing some snow-covered stairs, the former technician caught sight of another old structure. It looked like the entrance of a building, but when she got nearer to it, she found out it was a sort of room that depicted art. Somber, sinister art. "What is this?" Lapis mumbled behind her while also browsing the ancient pictures.

In the wall in front of them were drawn eight figure's or people dressed in black-as-night robes, just seeing at them gave the creeps to Lapis and Peridot due to being horribly familiar to the shadows both gems had had to deal with. The shadow-y people in the picture were divided in groups of four, one in the right and the other in the left, and in the center of the wall was a colossal monster, whole body made of darkness. Its head, however, was the skull of a deer.

It looked threatening, deadly, especially its eyes, red as blood. The background, on the other side, wasn't as edgy as the first drawings. The mountain with its light at the top was there, depicted majestically like a last lifeguard against the despair the shadow-y people and the monstrosity seemed to emanate.

"Peridot, are you thinking what I'm thinking at seeing this?" Lapis asked, breaking the suffocating silence.

The green gem gulped before responding, "If you were thinking that these things might be real AND the sort-of guardians of the mountain's light, then yeah. That's what I was thinking. Though it wasn't the only thing"

"Something more?"

"Yeah. Laz, haven't you wondered if maybe, by a blow of good luck, we might meet people here despite the horrible weather and those things checking the area? I mean, when we got out of the forest, we saw a bridge. That was a sign of civilization, and now we found this old paintings. What If we find some people that can help us reach the top of the mountain?"

Ah, that sounded excellent. Too good to be true, sadly. Lapis didn't want to burst the bubble of wishful thinking Peridot had created with this theory, but they had plenty of evidence to prove otherwise.

"Look, I don't want to sound pessimistic, but before we arrived here, we found a shack and a cemetery in the forest. Was there a note for us to know if people were coming back or something similar? No. During this journey, the only living beings around us were those things that only wanted to torture us for no reason. No animals, no humans, no even one of our friends. Just trees, snow and those monsters. So even if there are houses in these mountains, I doubt they are being used"

Peridot's got pensive and not crestfallen as Lapis had feared; her romantic partner had good points in her reasoning. Many signs of civilization were found in the way, and yet not a single person in sight to tell them where they were or what direction to take. Wait, what if those things attack them? What if the people that might have been living in the forest was killed by those deadly figures? What if the same happened with the ones living in this highlands?

Too many questions, too little time and too much danger to deal with. Stars, Peridot loved intellectual challenges with some mystery in them, but a simple warning before being thrown to a dark forest should be taken seriously. It was the least she asked.

The mechanic just sighed and massaged her temples around her gemstone whose black spots were now growing out of it as vein-shaped lines, unbeknownst to her. Lapis hugged Peri to relieve her from the stressful situation even for a bit, ignoring the sudden tingling from the core of her own gemstone that was spreading to every angle of her back.

"Let's continue. Whatever mystery is this, we can solve it once we're home"

"Right... Right... Let's go" Lapis was the first in getting out of the strange room, Peridot behind of her. The green gem thought she was hallucinating but she kind of saw very thin, black lines covering Lazuli's back, coming from her gemstone. 'Maybe it's the weather. It's messing with my mind already' the engineer decided to let that aside and just focus in the real goal.

Some meters ahead of them was another bridge, a thick one that led to the entrance of the citadel. If there was one, of course. Two-thirds of the building were safe enough to walk in, the center part, though, looked almost collapsed and barely enduring the blizzard. Peridot checked it as best as she could, despite the strong, icy breezes that piled up snowflakes in her star visor.

"It's still standing, though huge chunks of it have fallen, maybe for the winds or an attack. Walking in the center could be disastrous, so going for the sides of this section might help" the mechanic analyzed.

"Good. Get comfortable in my back, I'll be careful while stepping" Lapis knelt, waiting for the other to climb to her back. The former technician, however, didn't like the idea for many reasons. Especially one.

"Laz, I told you before we got out of the forest, if we are going to get back home it will be together. You don't have to sacrifice yourself like this or in any way"

"What? I'm just giving you a lift. You're overthinking too much"

"Really? Ok, just to make sure we are in the same page on this, let's say that at the last moment this part of the bridge falls apart. You can't fly and we don't have any other resources to use as protection if we plummet to our deaths, so, you have two options: drag me down to my doom -something you would never do-, OR push me to the safest part of the bridge before you fall to your demise, which I don't approve"

Lapis stayed quite for a moment until she sighed, defeated. Sometimes, she hated when Peridot was that perceptive.

"Look, it's not that I'm going to leave you. I told you I would never do that again. But If something happens, at least I want you to reach the peak safe and sound. Better one of us, which means you, instead of both dying here"

"I really appreciate your concerns towards my well-being, Lapis. But I stand my ground: it will be us returning home or nothing"

The svelte gem rolled her eyes fondly. Peridot, again, stubborn as a mule, but as always so dedicate to her loved ones. That's something that Lapis had to work on more and she was lucky to have the engineer as a teacher. "So, we must protect each other, right?"

"Exactly!"

"Fine, Peri. As you wish" Lapis got to her feet and took the green gem's hand, walking ahead of her to test the durability of the bridge. Her companion also stepped as lightly as she could, trembling in fear when hearing the grumbling of the construction. It was getting weaker, they needed to hurry up.

Seconds became minutes, agonizingly long and slow until they jumped to the safest zone of the bridge, happy to not fall or slip. "Laz, I think I saw something. Come on!" Peridot ran a bit clumsily and entered the citadel, only to find just a moor with dead trees barely sticking out of the snow-y dunes and what it looked to be broken roofs of some houses.

"This place is more depressing than me in my worst days" Lapis mumbled dryly. Peridot advanced with caution of not sinking in the unstable ground, her comrade at her side, checking on her at every second.

The chilly wind got stronger with each step both gems took, Lazuli hardly could spot the moon as the blizzard kept harassing her vision. Her right arm held Peri very close to her while she used the other one to protect her face. Then a sound, like a mix between a roar and a distorting machine was heard meters away. A red light was moving to many directions, checking for something. Lapis' thoughts were divided between believing some new menace was hiding on the snow storm or a lighthouse was being used to find intruders or survivors in what was left of the citadel, town or whatever place they were.

Unfortunately, it was the first option who got the 'Ping, ping, ping! You got it right!' reaction. If the svelte gem had blood, it would have frozen after seeing what she couldn't believe was some feet high looking for its next prey. It was that huge monster of the mural she and Peridot saw before crossing the bridge. The same mass of darkness as body, the same deer skull as head and the same crimson eyes. They were illuminating the area, too close to where the gems were standing.

' _FUCK! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK! NOT RIGHT NOW!_ ' In the blink of an eye, Lapis ran with Peridot in her arms again, searching for a place to hide before the hideous beast found them.

"Laz, what's wrong?! What's happening?!"

"Are you blind or what?! There is a monster, the same one from that painting that is checking for something to eat!"

"WHAT?! IS IT REAL?!" Lazuli ignored her questioned and in a single movement, dove into the snow with Peri so they could hide under an old roof almost covered by the cold dunes.

The two Crystal Gems held to each other tightly, waiting anxiously for the monstrosity to go away. The red light from its eyes bathed the roof used as a hidden spot, but nothing happened. Peri peered through a little hole, her eyes were having a lot of difficulties to see due to the snow obscuring her vision. However, after some minutes focusing enough to check the area, the green gem noticed that the monstrosity had left it already.

"Is it gone?" Lapis asked, scared out of her mind.

"Y-Yeah, it is. The coast is clear now"

"Thank stars" the ocean gem and her crush sighed, exhausted. With all of their strength, a part of the roof was broken for them to get out, always attentive for danger.

The storm got worse in a matter of seconds, so much that they needed to step carefully while hugging each other unless they wanted to be separated by the strong winds. Peridot squeezed Lapis' hand to get her attention; the engineer pointed to an ice tunnel, though the blue gem could barely see it.

Jogging was difficult in an unstable field, but if you added a roaring blizzard plus a painfully draining hail, then the task became next to impossible. Peridot might have been buried by the snow and bits of ice already if it weren't for Lapis' arms that protected her and gave her a lift whenever her legs sank into the dunes.

They finally entered to the tunnel, a little beyond there was another mural but the two Crystal Gems didn't care as much as both did with just staying safe and rest.

Lapis felt like something was sliding off her right side. It was Peri who, in an instant, fell unconscious to the snow-covered ground. The veins-like lines in her body grew larger and multiplied faster than ever.

"Peri!! Peridot, wake up!" she held her crush by her shoulders and shook her. First smoothly, then more strongly. The little gem's eyes barely opened, she was in some sort of trance and her murmurs confessed the pain her body was suffering.

"L-La... R-Rest..." Peridot said in a whisper.

"What? Can you say it a bit louder?"

"R-R-Rest..." The mechanic was overtaken by a sudden slumber and Lapis, in the brink of a panic attack, encircled her arms around her companion to calm her nerves.

"Please don't poof, Peri. Not right now. We n-need to reach the light together" some tears rolled down her blue cheeks, landing in Peridot's face. Feeling tired suddenly, the ocean gem approached the mural to find a spot to rest for a moment. The painting in front of her was different from the one they found before: it didn't have the same dark vibe but it was really bizarre. The mysterious mountain was depicted in the superior base of the mural but upside down, its peak pointed to a valley on the inferior base.

"Weird" was the only thing Lazuli could pronounce before sitting in front of the painting, her back against it. 'Just a few minutes... I need to rest for a few minutes' those were the last thoughts on her mind before she fell asleep with Peri in her arms.

\--------------------

Her body felt like thousands of pounds of steel sinking in the ocean. The pressure was even worse than when she fused with Jasper years ago. Malachite was nothing compared to this sensation.

' _Am I truly dying now?_ ' Lapis' mind, strangely, didn't went into a full anxiety attack, maybe because of how tired it was to process all that was happening.

She couldn't open her eyes to see the dream her subconscious was creating, or perhaps there wasn't anything to witness. How Lapis could know? Everything around her was black.

' _Wait a second. Am I having that same dream when I'm tortured by distorted images?_ ' Fear got a vicious grip in her heart, she was shaking like jelly, expecting the worst to happen.

"--r --o!" a young female voice surprised the ocean gem, but there was no one in her surroundings.

"--nd... --ds... --e...--es... --ing!" another voice, this one was familiar. It was the same one from when Lapis fell unconscious after the shadow's attack.

"Who's there?! Come on, just show yourself already!" Lazuli yelled. Seriously, all this dramatic mystery was getting on her nerves, she didn't want to deal with more unknown voices in her dreams while being left out of whatever they were talking about.

"--ow!" Again the same female voice, but now it sounded a bit clearer. Lapis recognized it.

It was Connie's.

"--p, --le!" that other one was Bismuth's.

This made no sense at all. Why was she hearing Connie and Bismuth yelling? And why whatever they were talking about sounded so distorted, fragmented?

"I need to get out of here. This confusion isn't helping me" Lazuli tried to will her mind to wake her body up, or change the void in her subconscious for something better, but nothing.

Then the maddening laughter. Though it grew louder and louder, and the more time Lapis heard it, the more sore her whole body felt. Her arms and legs were stiff as boards, her chest was closing slowly, panic and pain mixed together were consuming her mind.

Crack... Crack... Crack

What was this? Did she hear well? Something was cracking. She couldn't move. It was like she was being tore apart from the inside, disintegrating oh so painfully while the laughter reverberated in her ears.

"STOP! Just shut up!" Lazuli shouted desperately to no avail. The pressure increased, like a huge hand grasping her in a sadistic hold. Wanting for her to experience the torture.

"Laz" Wait, was that Peridot? "Laz, come on, wake up! Don't leave me!" It was her! With all her might, Lapis fought the painful strikes. More and more until blinding light consumed her.

\--------------------

The blue gem opened her eyes in a snap, meeting Peridot's tear-stained gaze. Without giving her time to ask what was going on, the engineer tackled her romantic partner in a bear hug and kissed her profusely.

Lapis' mind went into Error 404 after that. Attempting to process Peri's loving gesture but failing, and the symbolic butterflies in her stomach and chest weren't giving her any advice either, but a satisfied part of her didn't mind.

Peridot opened her eyes and went full shock for what she had done. Pulling away from Lapis, the little gem searched in her head for a decent apology, an excuse, anything to explain her sudden burst of affection and concern. Lazuli's lips, however, stopped her when they met hers smoothly, the svelte gem smiled at her in a way that made Peridot's cheeks and shoulders blush.

"You don't look that good" Lapis' statement matched the seriousness in her face that had replaced her happy expression because of the kiss. Peridot grimaced while looking at her body. There were much more gray splotches and dark veins replacing the green of her skin than before, but it wasn't like Lapis was faring well. The problem was how to tell her about the recent worsening of her condition.

"Although... You know, I'm happy that you liked my approach on you waking up... Y-You know, the kiss... Even when I'm happy for that, your condition is something we need to take care of. Lapis, your whole body was glitching madly, heck, I even thought you were going to poof or shatter. Your sudden coma lasted many minutes and I panicked, and I... I don't know what will be of you, but I fear this will endanger your life"

Again the Error 404 mode entered Lapis' system. She checked her arms, who were almost covered in gray spots, and -as Peridot had told her- her whole being was glitching. Irregularly, erratically and sometimes she could feel the pain.

"Stars..." that was the only thing she could say. Peri hugged her slowly to lessen the fear and stress she could perceive from her companion. Lapis got a hold on the gem's arms with despair, keeping her thing together to not yell with all her remaining strength.

"Laz, things might be looking terrible for us right now what with our bodies' conditions, but we're getting closer to the mountain. We just... We just have to keep going and hope for the best, just like Steven said. He is the one who taught us that. And once we're home, we'll laugh at this whole mess and enjoy each other's company now that we have figured out and confessed our feelings. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"Yeah, it would" slowly, she calmed down and smiled at her crush with gratitude "It would. Thanks, Peri"

The mechanic gave her a big, loving grin. With some difficulty, Lapis got up and looked at her surroundings; they still were in the ice tunnel, the blizzards could be heard at the exit with how strong the icy roaring was. Lazuli and Peri held each other's hands and walked to the other side of the tunnel. Lapis, again, carried Peridot in her back to climb down a little cliff at the end of the tunnel.

Hail and blizzard continued to obscure the horizon while they walked through the snow-y dunes. Some meters away, a bunch of rotten-wood buildings hardly visible because of the snow were found. They looked like houses but in such bad condition it seemed that something swallowed and vomited them.

"Oh oh" Peridot trembling voice was a sign for bad news, and Lapis didn't want to know what another problem they had to deal with but not knowing might potentially kill them. "What now, Peri?"

"Is that thing again!" It was, indeed. The horrible creature was flying at a very low height, its shapeless mass of a body almost touching the cold ground. The crimson light from its eyes checking for some foolish prey to hunt. And to top it all, both Crystal Gems were still too far away from one of the destroyed buildings to hide in.

"Let's dig! Let's dig quickly!" Peridot, in a rush of panic, dug a hole in the snow as if she were a dog. If they weren't in the middle of nowhere and in a deadly situation, Lapis would consider that image pretty funny and cute. Unfortunately, they were in an unknown place with mortal monsters ready to shatter them, so she helped the green gem to create a burrow-like hole before the beast found them.

The red light bathed their improvised refuge and luckily, it didn't notice them. However, that thing was still flying in circles at low height, sometimes very near them, other times very far away which didn't help at all with their anxiety.

"Now what? Unless one is ready to distract that thing, we'll never get out of here" mumbled Lapis.

"I have an idea, though it's more like an experiment. I read some human reports about Earth-creatures called moles that build a complex net of tunnels by digging underground. If we replicate that, in a more superficial level, of course, we can escape without being detected"

"By digging a tunnel... In the snow..." It was unorthodox, risky, but their only choice "Alright, we'll take turns to see if we're going in the right direction"

Peridot nodded and both started digging. Lapis cursed mentally due to her powerlessness, all this snow was a precious resource she could use to defeat that thing and create a series of stairs long and big enough for her and her companion to climb and reach the peak of the mountain. But no~! It seemed that the world and the whole universe decided to prank her by taking her powers away because they had nothing better to do.

As if being in the mirror wasn't bad enough, but at least back then she knew she still had her hydrokinesis, now though, Lapis needed to rely on her own hands to escape. The anger at the utter injustice gave her more energy than she thought, even when the blue gem didn't seem to see the change. She dug harder, faster, stronger, checking for the creature's movements when it was her turn.

"Finally!" Peridot's abrupt yell bursted her bubble "Freedom is ours!"

It was funny, in the worst moment, to be honest. The blue gem was so caught up in her rage that she didn't know if Peri saw her glaring at the snow while digging, heck, she wasn't sure what was she doing at all with all the sudden energy her intense emotions gave her. It was like being in a trance. And because of being distracted like that, Lapis couldn't stop Peri from shouting in triumph and reveal herself and the other Crystal Gem to the monster they were trying to get away from.

The hideous beast observed impassively the fear-stricken gem whose eyes widened in shock for what she had done. "L-L-Look, over there! A clody prey to get!" Peri pointed behind the thing but it didn't budge.

The monstrosity roared powerfully and point-y, sharp tendrils came out from its body, directed to the helpless target. However, before making contact, Lapis got out from the improvised snow-tunnel, grabbed Peri's hand and rushed in a panic. The little gem almost felt like she was a ragdoll, her short legs could barely keep up the rhythm while they escaped through a new entrance and a mountain-made, narrow passage.

"Aaaaahhhhhh!" Peridot's free hand went to the injury in her leg, horrified at seeing that one of the monster's tendrils had pierced it. Lapis pulled her close to her chest, terrified of losing her. Unbeknownst to them, the other tendrils were getting closer, sneakily, at high speed, using the shadows of everything around them to gain strength. Then...

"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Lapis' shriek of pain was louder than Peridot's. Her stomach and neck stabbed by two tendrils at the same time. The blue gem's vision was getting blurry pretty quickly, her legs were losing energy at every second. Her companion, desperately, dragged her on her back while evading as best as she could the furious attacks of the beast.

The engineer then spot an antique arch, beyond that there were some weirds statues, more of those strange metal/dark rock bars, and some columns of rock. With all her might, she entered the new zone and went to her left, finding a hole in the near hills to hide from the creature. Peridot covered all the entrance with snow seconds before the monster appeared looking for them.

Minutes passed, though it felt like eternity for the little Crystal Gem, until she gathered enough courage to check her surroundings. She sighed in relief, the monster was gone.

Slap!

Peridot touched to her right cheek who now had a handprint on it and hurt as hell. "Ouch! What the hell was that for?!" she yelled at Lazuli, outraged.

Her fury didn't last after seeing the accusatory glare Lapis was giving her. She shrank and blushed embarrassed, not knowing why until her romantic partner opened her mouth. "What the hell was that for?! For real?! How can you be so stupid?! We were supposed to escape that thing unnoticed, not to get ourselves killed! If it weren't for me, you'd be dead already!"

Peridot's eyes watered due to the gem's tirade. She wanted to protest but didn't found any good arguments to use. Lapis was right, this was supposed to be a stealthy task and she blew it. If the blue gem hadn't been fast enough, that monster would have gotten rid of them. Still it really hurt to be insulted like that and by the person she was closest to, but she was also too proud to show her vulnerability, so she poofed her chest and sniffed a bit to stop herself from crying.

A sigh escaped Lapis' mouth, her tired mind composing itself to not lose it again. Reflecting on what she had said, she grimaced at her harshness. Of course, Peridot made a mistake that could've costed their lives, but her outburst wasn't helping either, was it? She couldn't let the frustration and adrenaline blind her judgement and distance her from her crush, so, she approached Peridot to apologize.

The other thought another harsh reprimand or slap was going to come, but only got tender arms wrapped around her gently. "I'm sorry" the ocean gem said regretfully.

"I know what you did was foolish and we could've died because of that, but that doesn't give me the right to react this way. It's just... I was so scared when I saw you wounded by that thing... I didn't know what to do. All of this is too much... We don't know why it's happening to us or why our powers don't work, and it makes me so angry and frustrated even when I'm trying to be as positive as I can. And when I thought I was going to lose you... I lost it. But it isn't fair to lash out at you like that. I'm so sorry"

Waterfalls started falling from Peri's eyes as she wept uncontrollably, her sobs shaking even Lapis. The blue gem tightened the hug while mumbling 'It's ok' and 'I'm sorry' many times. After some minutes of exhausting crying, Peridot sniffed and rubbed at her eyes, unsure of looking at Lapis.

The silence between them got very awkward and uncomfortable. "Y-You clod" Peridot said to break the ice, and glared at Lazuli, still hurt by her words. The other Crystal Gem lowered her head in shame and then signaled to her left cheek, "If you want, you can slap me. Maybe it makes you feel better".

The former technician got surprised at this offer, but after thinking for a bit, she just threw a snowball at her companion and crossed her arms. The tense silence started again, but this time it was getting unbearable. Lapis didn't want that fight between them to destroy their new relationship, so she opted to apologize one more time.

"Peri, I--"

"I know getting that monster's attention sabotaged our plan, even if it was accidental, Lazuli" the blue gem felt like stabbed after hearing the second part of her name being pronounced in a snapping tone "I know I should've been more careful. But seriously, you d-didn’t have to--" her sentence was interrupted by the trembling of her lips and more tears escaping her eyes.

Lapis decided to take a leap of faith and held Peri's face delicately and sweetly. The other gem looked away, between anger and hurt, but didn't pulled away from her companion's hands. Then the blue gem kissed her slowly, lovingly which surprised the engineer. The gesture lasted some minutes until Lapis stopped and leaned her forehead on Peridot's. "It was foolish of you, yeah. But my reaction was uncalled for. I hurt you and I'm truly sorry. Can you forgive me?"

The green gem stayed silent, until she returned the kiss. Holding Lapis' face with both hands and with a serious expression she said, "You clod, of course I forgive you. We have forgiven each other for many idiotic things done in the past, remember? Can you-Can you forgive me too for putting us in danger?"

"Silly, there's nothing to forgive. It was an accident after all. But please, Peridot, please be more careful next time. We were so close to be killed back then, especially you. Don't die on me. You told me we can make it together"

"Especially me? You were stabbed in two different places! It's a miracle you're still standing!"

"That's why we need to be stealthier and more attentive if we don't want a repeat of this incident. Protecting each other's back, ok?" Lapis smiled at her and placed her hand in the cheek with the handprint. Peridot blushed and grabbed the hand not to pull it away but caress it.

"I think that's the best course of action. Much more with how I performed in the tasks of escaping minutes ago" the engineer looked away bitterly, ashamed for that mistake. However, Lapis took her chin delicately and gave her a kind smile to comfort her, "Let's focus on the now instead of the past. We forgave each other already, the next step is coming back home in one piece"

The little gem got serious and determined, nodding with newfound energy. Her eyes then spot some disturbing phenomenon in Lapis' neck and stomach which she pointed while shouting in fear. The blue gem looked at her stomach first because doing the same for her neck was impossible. The zone where the sharp tendril had pierced was getting blacker with every second. A big splotch whose edges were stretching, elongating in thin, undulated lines. Kind of like veins.

Morbid curiosity and shock got the best of her when the blue gem touched the wound and then a painful, intense glitch shook her whole body much to Peri's concern.

"Laz!" the other tried to approach her when she saw her romantic partner falling to the ground but her injured leg, with the sudden movement, glitched which broke the balance and Peri fell to the icy floor too.

The blue gem immediately went to see what was wrong on her crush after getting up. Horror hit her when she saw Peri's leg, it was suffering the same symptoms as her neck and stomach: a black splotch whose edges where enlarging in the form of veins. The glitching was also a big problem.

"Stupid, goddamn, unpredictable changes in our bodies! First we can't use our powers, then those weird gray spots that get larger and larger, our gemstones getting black with every second and NOW THIS!!! I swear if we don't find out why this is happening at the end of this journey I will shout until I poof!"

"Hehe... At least, we are still the same. Especially you" Lapis got up slowly, her companion acted quickly to help her in case another glitch attacked her "Let's not waste more time. We need to get out of here"

"The sooner the better" Peri uncovered the hole where they were hidden and got out, Lapis following her from behind. Both gazed in different directions of the landscape in front of them. Rocks, snake-shaped statues and dark metal signs littered the area. At their left there was a huge irregular column of rock, and a bit up from them, another old arch.

"Ok, so if we climb that column, we will reach the arch and keep advancing. Oh! There is another arch to the right of this column but I don't think it will lead us anywhere, because we need to go straight, so--"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Miss Compass. Go straight, don't derail, focus and don't die. I know the plan" Lapis sounded annoyed but there was a fond smile in her face. Without giving her warning, the blue gem put her crush on her back and went to the rocky wall of a mountain where the arch was located to start climbing. It was an advantage for her having watched that episode of Camp Pining Heart when Pierre climbed a hill to win a bet against a member of the rival team.

"Laz, are you really sure you can do this? Your condition isn't at its 100% AND your body is glitching. No offense, but I don't want us to fall if you glitch unexpectedly"

"It's ok, Peri. I'm still standing. Now let's go" her hand grabbed a sharp edge, then her feet got her impulse by placing them over a chunk of stone. Grab an edge, feet over a bit of rock, impulse, don't glitch, keep eyes and ears open. That was Lapis strategy to not fall; Peridot, on the other hand, kept watch in case that monster appeared again.

It felt surreal for both of them to go through this. More than the mystery of why they were stranded in a forest, why there was no sign of life except those somber creatures, it was overcoming adversity without their powers the real challenge they couldn't imagine to do, but were doing it anyway. It was strange, inconceivable, alien -what a great irony for an alien race, right?-, but most of all, humane. Such vulnerability and helplessness, being so fragile, was more familiar with humans than gems. The roles had been reversed though, and if they wanted to survive they needed to resort to other things than gem abilities.

"Ok...we are here... Stars, that... That was exhausting" Lapis panted, running a hand through her dark blue hair. Peri checked on her, in case her romantic partner poofed or something. Happily, it didn't happen but the glitching was getting worse.

"What about if we rest?" Peridot murmured, anxious for her companion's condition. Lapis shook her head as a 'no' answer and lent her hand to the green gem who took it despite her reservations. A narrow passage made by mountains and rocks was there and wherever it led them, both Crystal Gems only prayed it wasn't to a trap or the territory of those monsters. It was too much action and drama for their tastes.

A dense silence covered them while walking through the passage, their feet leaving footprints that the icy winds erased in minutes. Peridot stopped for a moment, her injured leg glitching, her gemstone giving her an unbearable headache. All her body experimented shivers that enlarged the gray spots and dark veins in it. 'Am I getting sick like humans? Is this what humans call fever or nausea?'

She fell to her knees not hearing Lapis' alarmed yell nor feeling her arms wrapped around her midsection. Her eyes were barely open while her mind was in another place.

"--p!" Uh?

"--op!" Was that Steven? Maybe she was hallucinating.

"--in... --is?" What was he saying? Why she couldn't understand?

"Can you say it again, Steven?" Peri asked weakly. One of her hands was raised, like trying to reach her friend who wasn't there but the voice kept saying things. Bits of phrases and sentences her brain didn't have the energy to process.

Lapis looked at her crush worriedly. Was she going insane or suffering the same symptoms as her when she went into a coma? Honestly, she didn't want to know, but as Peri said 'not knowing is the bane of this unwanted adventure'. Though the blue gem lacked of the clues to solve this problem.

"Peri, hey Peri, come on. Get out of your head. Please. Whatever you're listening, is not true" the other gem was shaken a bit but to no avail. Her trance was too strong to be broken. Lazuli was dry of new ideas which wasn't helping at all, then she remembered when Peri told her how she started to talk with her despite being unconscious, that it calmed her down if a bit.

' _If it can get her out of her head or whatever is going through, so be it_ ' and begun talking.

"Have you thought about what you wanna do once we return home, Peri? Because I did" there was no response, the engineer's eyes were still looking to something invisible "I plan to sleep in the hammock for a whole week. A whole month once Little Homeworld is finished, or maybe while it is finished. And guess what? I want you with me, to cuddle with me so we can be comfortable. We deserve it after all... I know that this stuff about romance and serious relationships is something new to explore. Heck, if it weren't for Camp Pining Hearts and what Garnet loves to say about fusion, we wouldn't get it. I was honest to you when I told you that I loved you, that I have fallen in love with you, but it's challenging you know. I don't want to make the same mistakes, to run away and make you think it was all your fault when it isn't. I don't want to hurt you again, you're really precious to me. Hehe... It sounds cliche, right? Should I say something more epic, poetic? No, even with that, you will only want honesty. But sometimes is so difficult to give that when the truth is nothing but a not-so-bright surprise box. We might get good things or bad ones, or the worst of the worst. So, what's the point in being honest if the result may be ugly, right? But If we deny it, we'll only walk in circles. With lies to not upset anyone and hurt feelings. And, if it helps in something, I'm not the best in taking bad news well. You already know it, don't you?"

She stopped for a second to accommodate Peridot who was on her arms and keep walking. Her eyes searched for the light at the top of the mountain, the snow storm making it difficult to spot. They still had a long trek to go before seeing the peak in all its splendor. With a single glance of it Lapis could feel the end of a draining journey and the beginning of rest and peace. Just her and Peridot and all her family.

"I want to go back, Peri" she said with melancholy "I want to go back to the times when everything was so calm and perfect. Just you and I. When this is over, we have to start our break, ok? And maybe... Maybe we can visit Pumpkin's tomb too. She must be feeling lonely"

"L-Lone... Pumpkin?" Peri's voice broke Lapis' train of thought, the blue gem directing her gaze to her companion whose eyes were returning to normal much to the other's relief. "Thank stars, you're back!" Lazuli hugged her and the former technician raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What do you mean I'm back? What happened? Also, where are we? Aren't we in the peak of the mountain yet?" the shower of questions made Lapis laugh for a bit, just hearing Peridot's voice gave her energy to keep moving.

"We aren't there yet, but we are advancing. You... I don't know how to say it but you entered some sort of trance, you were getting weak and almost collapsed, so I carried you"

"Oh..." the green gem didn't know how to take this. Well, she did know to be exact, but worrying her romantic partner with her mysterious condition and whatever trance she had sounded more troublesome than anything. "Did-Did I do something weird while I was incapacitated to continue?"

"Well, now that I think about it, you mentioned Steven. Like he was saying something you couldn't get" Then Lapis remembered Connie and Bismuth's voices she heard when she fell asleep "Peri, remember when I couldn't be woken up until I did and you kissed me?"

"Y-You didn't like the kiss?" the other Crystal Gem sounded so small and nervous it broke Lapis' heart, so she put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"No, I liked it. Trust me. The point is, while I was unconscious again, I thought I heard Connie and Bismuth's voices saying something. But it was so difficult to understand.

"Bismuth and Connie? That... Ok, I could say it doesn't make any sense, though that conclusion is quite obvious"

"Yeah, but you hearing Steven was similar to my case. What if they're trying to communicate with us?"

"You told me once that Steven contacted you via dream powers even when you were still..." Peridot paused, knowing the next fact was really bitter for Lapis "Still fused with Jasper. So, um, if my calculations are correct, he might be able to reach us using that ability. However, Connie and Bismuth don't have it, so it's not possible for them to try to send a message to us. Unless our minds are reconnecting with the memories needed to solve the question of why and how we ended up in the forest"

Uh, she had a lot of good points. Still...

"But what if Steven is extending that power to them so the others can know where we are and talk to us. Isn't that possible?"

"That's a good theory. And the only way to make it real is if Steven, Connie and Bismuth are sleeping and connecting their minds. Besides, ours don't need to shut off via sleeping. Anyway, once we reach the light of the mountain and get out of here, we'll try to prove that theory"

With Lapis nodding to that statement, both gems keep walking until the passage ended in a new entrance to a paved path. They pass through and saw in front of them a massive, terrifying abyss whose bottom was overshadowed by dense, icy fog; the path was at the edge of the side of a mountain. Their immaterial hearts froze at the simple idea of estimating the height in which they found themselves.

Beyond that, the condition of the place didn’t look much better nor gave them some encouragement for a more peaceful journey: it was narrower than the rocky passages from before, there were some rocks ahead obstructing a part, and the weather was acting more unstable and dangerous.

"The world is so unfair with this" Peridot complained, between annoyed with more struggles to deal with and terrified at the idea of falling to a painful death.

The universe, in that moment, decided to prove her right by sending a powerful gust against them. It happened so quickly, both Crystal Gems didn't have the time to defend themselves. Peridot was hit first, her back colliding with Lapis' stomach, the svelte gem tried to put her feet down with enough strength to not be dragged by the cold winds to no avail. Then her back crashed with the stone-made railing at the start of the path which broke in pieces.

The worst moment in Peridot's life played painfully slow, facing her mockingly. Lapis' body was pulled by gravity towards death, her feet the only thing available to grab to save her life. A part of the mechanic's brain told her that grabbing Lapis' foot to stop her end was crazy, the weight would drag her down and both would die. Another one, much bigger and desperate told her to screw reason and save her immediately, because both promised to protect each other.

So, that's what Peridot did.

"I got you!" she yelled at her companion who was shocked seeing the little gem holding her left heel, all her might put in the sole task of not letting her go.

"Peridot, what the heck?! Let me go!" Lapis shouted, her command overlapped by the strong blizzards. The other gem shook her head in negative and tried to pull her comrade in, though that was easier saying than doing it.

"Peridot, just let go! You're gonna die too!" the engineer again shook her head, crying tears of frustration for her pathetic and less-than-average strength. She cursed mentally at her weakness, right now being as strong as a human adult or a bit more was seriously needed but she even was deprived of that.

Another merciless blizzard collided with Peridot's back; thankfully, what was left of the railing became useful to her to hold on and not be pushed to a hellish fall. With her left hand and foot positioned behind the remnants of the railing, she pulled once, twice, thrice even, to put Lapis on the floor. Her efforts were brave, the ocean gem could give her credit for that, but they weren't working, and any time, a simple slip-up might condemn Peridot to her demise which she didn't want.

She had no option. Raising her right foot in front of Peri's face, she said, "Let me go right now or I'll kick you! Peridot, this is my last warning! LET ME GO!"

' _Laz can't be serious... Can she?_ '; however, her romantic partner's eyes were sending daggers at her via glaring, and her foot was still raised, so yeah, she was deadly serious. But guess what? Two can play the same game. And letting her companion die to save herself wasn't on her list.

"Kick me then!" she challenged her "Kick me and die! Leave me behind again! But if you do it, don't you dare to think this time I'm going to forgive you, because I WON'T! NEVER! Save my life if you want, I won't change my mind! I'd rather die with you than reach the peak alone! Even if it means condemning myself and being hated by you in the other life, I won't let you go! No matter how many times you try to convince me to!" Lapis felt something wet touching her face. Peridot's waterfalls of tears were soaking her cheeks and hair, making her cry too.

' _What should I do? She might die because of me. But I don't want to hurt her again_ ' Lapis' despair was consuming her mind to the point of giving up, until she saw Peri's determined expression. She was doing the impossible to save her and here she was, wanting to sacrifice herself even if that means leaving the person she loved most again. How a gem like Peridot could be so bold and devote? How could she risk her life that way for her?

' _I think we can win. I think you can win_ ' Yeah! They were getting close to the mountain's light, they had survived many horrible things, gone through worse. She couldn't give up nor leave Peri and their lives together behind. She must fight!

Quickly, Lapis placed her right foot under a part of the railing that wasn’t broken, to try to pull herself out of the abyss. "Peridot!" she yelled getting her attention "PULL! PULL AND DON'T FALL!" the little gem was surprised at that response, though it lasted a bit. With a huge willpower, she did as Lazuli said, arms and legs working endlessly to save her while the blue gem did the same, using her right foot as an impulse.

Peridot, in a snap, grabbed the other foot too and pulled with as much strength she could muster. Another blizzard hit her back, pushing her to the edge, but her left leg wrapped around a part of the railing that was intact to prevent the fall. Then she kept pulling; slowly and with Lapis' help, the blue gem could get hold of the remnants of the banister to make the last impulse, being in the paved path alongside Peridot.

However, her battered nerves told her to keep moving and she wrapped her arms around her crush, running even against a ruthless, chill wind and got both of them behind a bunch of rocks a bit beyond in the path. The hail and blizzards kept blowing brutally, but with the improvised shield the rocks gave them, the gems were safe.

The former technician looked at her romantic partner, a mix of bewilderment and astonishment imprinted in her eyes. Lapis caressed her right cheek shakily, a tearful smile adorning her face "You idiot. Heroic i-idiot". Peridot, in an instant, gave her the mother of bear hugs, crying like a toddler, not letting her go for fear of seeing Lapis disappear. The other gem rubbed circles in her back while the tears rolled down her cheeks. Lazuli was trembling, slightly, but trembling afraid of losing Peridot, of dying, of exhaustion and many other things. But holding onto the gem she loved so much brought her some peace, stopping her from going insane in this crazy adventure.

After some minutes hugging, crying and letting her emotions out, Peridot -although reluctantly- let go of her romantic partner and rubbed at her eyes, sniffing. Lapis got up and lent Peri a hand which she took fastly, her grip ironclad for obvious reasons. "I don't want to lose you. Don't leave me, please" she said in a small, pitiful voice. Lapis gave her a kind hug to reassure her everything would be ok, at least for now.

"Thanks for not giving up on me, Peri. It was dangerous but very brave of you. If it weren't for your words... I would have done something really stupid despite my intentions of saving you"

The green gem blushed at her compliments and smiled a bit at her, "You're important to me, Laz. We're important to each other, so, let's protect our backs with all we have AND mean it" the sudden seriousness in Peri's eyes told Lapis that this incident would be something they'd have to talk privately once they returned home. Still, the ocean gem just nodded accepting that and both kept walking through the paved path.

Or both gems tried to, because a strong, chill wind surprised them. Not wanting a repeat of the last near-tragic event, Lazuli and Peridot shielded themselves using the bunch of rocks, waiting for the blizzard to stop. When it did, they ran as quickly as they could, passing by the long, bizarre windows that were letting the cold air of the snow storm to hit them.

The wisps were more savage the more they advanced. The stress, exhaustion, the marks on their bodies, the glitching and pain, were too much and sometimes they tripped on the stairs or got swept by the gales. Some minutes later, fortunately, the path ended in another entrance and they went through it, thinking things would be easier this time for a change.

Both Crystal Gems didn't know how wrong they were.

Once they got out of that dangerous zone at the edge of the side of that mountain, Lapis and Peridot faced an immense white desert. Kilometers of snow dunes where those weird signs were scattered but also many branches of trees, covered by the white, icy substance. Oh! And added to all of that was the enraged lightnings whose roars gave Peridot a big bad vibe. She was never a fan of lightnings.

"We're so close, Peri. The mountain's light is closer to us"

It was in indeed, though still far away. But the luminous pillar that came from the mountain's divided-in-two peak was more clear-cut than before, despite the raging storm and the powerful gales that went in circles like creating a frozen tornado. Peridot gulped at the idea of dealing with such monstrous weather and in the conditions they were in; however, an encouraging smile from Lapis was enough to lift her determination.

"Let's get this over with" both tightened their hold on each other's hands and walked through the snow.

The winds and the coldness was eating them for how painfully slow it made their journey. Lapis side-hugged her crush to prevent the blizzards to separate Peridot from her, though it didn't work with the star-shaped visor that went flying to another part. The only thing they could grab to not be swept abruptly was the rock-made signs, but those items weren't that strong to protect them.

Then an ominous shadow got their attention. Lapis and Peridot's eyes widened in horror at seeing the colossal monster. The creature roared and from its body 2, 5, no, 8! 8 robed-like figures came out. All of them flying towards them!

Both gems ran as black arrows were fired against them. Each time one touched the ground, it bursted into long spikes. Lazuli carried Peridot in her arms to protect her from them, taking a lot of damage in her extremities. The green gem pulled away desperately to try to defend her companion from those monsters, but the other didn't let her while she ran.

It didn't last, however, for the former technician was able to get out of the embrace and held both her comrade's hands to lead her to a refuge or anywhere very far away from the ruthless ambush. One of the clodded figures, though, tackled the engineer and the gales swept her some meters away from Lapis.

"PERIDOT!!!!" Against reason, the ocean gem rushed to her aid, fear like nothing she had felt consuming her mind. Losing her, such a thought sparked in Lazuli energy enough to rescue her love before those things killed her.

Peridot, on the other hand, had grabbed one of the rock-made signs so the gales couldn't leave her discarded in another place. Her visorless eyes were useless against the snow, hail and cold air blown into her face. Then Lapis' voice got her to open a bit her vision spheres, watching in awe and shock how the other gem was avoiding with the best agility she could show the black arrows of the shadow-y figures. But one of them, suddenly, stabbed her back, coming out from the chest.

Peridot yelled, her shrieks the embodiment of terror. The blue gem fell to her knees and two more arrows pierced each of the legs, from her mouth an agonizing scream escaped. One of the shadows tackled her cruelly and the gem collided with a rock-made sign which left her unconscious.

The mechanic fought endlessly against the blizzards to reach her romantic partner, many times being hit by the arrows but not stopping for a second until she was in front of a heavily wounded Lapis. Putting her over her back, Peri ordered her mind to energize her legs so running could save them both.

The eight shadows fly towards the gems, the engineer, meanwhile, focusing in two tasks while sprinting madly: protect Lapis and not losing from her sight the peak of the mountain. A rain of black arrows was directed at her from every angle, making it impossible for her to evade them all.

It was a living hell. Needles, nails, knives, any sharp object used hadn't been able to cause that kind of pain. And to make it worse, Lapis was receiving more damage, but in her back!

' _Keep running, you clod! Keep running until they can't follow you anymore! You two have to live!_ ' her mind yelled at her. It was the best encouragement she could create to not be swallowed by despair.

\--------------------

How many steps had she taken? Her brain had lost the count already. How many arrows pierced through her and Lapis' body? She hoped not so many. How many times her eyes had to endure the icy winds? Stars, Peridot missed her star-shaped visor so much. How much it would take to reach the goddamn peak and go home?

...

...

Wait a second.

...

...

Where the hell was the mountain?!

"Where is it? WHERE IS IT?!" No no no! This was all wrong! It couldn't be happening! The mountain was there, the pillar of light shining, how it could disappear?!

Peridot searched for it but only got snowflakes in her eyes. A horizon obscured by dense fog and a grey-and-white sky above her and Lapis, the only two things she was able to see.

Kilometers and kilometers of snow dunes, nothing and no one else.

They were lost. She had gotten them lost. Ok... Ok... Calm down, it couldn't be that bad...

"Someone help me! Please!" No, it TRULY was bad. Really worse than ever.

"Please! I'm-I'm lost! I'm lost and Lapis is wounded! Please help!" Hopelessness and self-reproach clawed at her heart, guilt tainting her every thought. Idiot, idiot, idiot! Just when they needed most to find a refuge and keep going, she had to ruin it all! Now they were lost and going to die there! Their last chance of coming back home unreachable!

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Filled with rage and frustration, Peridot kicked the snow-covered ground mercilessly, helpless tears running down her cheeks. Her anger was so deep that she didn't notice when Lapis, still unconscious, fell from her back. Minutes passed with her outburst wasting the last bit of her strength, her body's glitches stopped her from a moment, the sharp pain they caused making her trip and kiss the floor much to her humiliation. She was so done with this shit.

"P-Peri..." Then, as if waking from a trance, Peridot looked at her right and saw her love barely moving, the snow covering her slowly.

"Lapis!" She ran to her companion and put her in her arms. The blue gem opened her eyes a bit, confusion written in her face.

"Where...are we? Have we...arrived...already?" The engineer's heart broke at those questions. She really wanted to tell her that they were close but lying was a mistake she didn't want to repeat, even if both were going to perish. "I'm s-so sorry, Laz... I'm sorry... We were so close but... I ruined it... I don't know where we are... I'm such an idiot, I'm sorry"

Lapis' body convulsed in pretty disturbing glitches, much to the other's horror, leaving the ocean gem more exhausted and weaker than ever. Still, she placed a hand in Peri's cheek and caressed it lovingly, "At least... I'm with you"

The little gem wept guiltily, hugging her comrade and laying at her side in the snow. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" she mumbled. Lapis wrapped her arms around her waist to comfort her but her weeping got worse. "If I-If I had been stronger, w-we would already be in the peak... Going home"

Lazuli put her hand under Peridot's chin so they could be face to face. "You dork... D-Don't you see? You're m-my home. I love you" the former technician kissed her passionately, deeply moved by those words "I love you too".

Both hugged each other more and stayed like that in the chill ground, letting the snow covered them. A deep slumber overtook their minds while a mass of darkness emerged from the snow beneath them and swallowed them whole.


	9. Chapter 9

It was the void again, but this time it felt different. Like something was missing. Though, of course, something was because the light, the sound, air, and other elements were nonexistent; still, there was an emptiness that couldn't leave them alone no matter how hard they tried to ignore it.

"Lapis?" Someone was calling her name "Lapis, wake up!" Why they sounded so distraught? "Lapis, please! Wake up! Don't leave me!" Wait, that voice...

"Peri...? Peridot?" Her eyes opened slowly and she spot the tear-stained gaze of her love, her eyebrows furrowed and the whole body was trembling.

"Thank stars you're awake!" Peridot's arms wrapped on her neck, she could hear some sniffs and feel the wetness of her tears.

"Hey, Peri. Hey, it's ok, I'm not going anywhere" a blue hand caressed the yellow, triangular-shaped hair to comfort her. Her cerulean eyes wandered to every corner of whatever they were, but the problem was that only black surrounded them. Utter black and silence.

If it weren't for Peridot's presence and voice, she would go crazy in that desolated dimension.

"--rry" Peri's voice was a pitiful whisper, but she could hear a bit of what she said, and Lapis didn't like it.

"Say it again" Lapis grabbed both her companion's shoulders and looked at her seriously "Say it and then tell me if you would've liked to see me acting this way"

Peridot, despite her tears and self-hatred blinding her judgment, understood what Lapis meant. She knew, from many conversations both had before this mess, that the blue gem tended to fall to a depressive hole, believing everyone was better off without her, that her mistakes and past wrongs made her look like poison instead of a flawed person. But it wasn't true. Lapis WAS flawed, like Peridot, Steven, and the rest of her friends. Good and bad traits together which made them unique. Still...

"Laz, this is different. I should've protected you better, I should've done more, I shouldn’t have gotten us lost when the plan was reaching the light at the peak! I... I ruined it all... How can you be so forgiving with me?"

"Because it's not your fault" Peridot was going to protest but Lapis stopped her "No, I'm serious. Peri, even if our places had been inversed back then, things would have still been out of control. The shadows, the monster, the storm, our bodies deteriorating. We would've ended up the same"

"Are you really trying to make me feel better? Because it's not working" the blue gem smiled at her bitter and angst-ridden love to whom she hugged tightly. Peridot melted at the touch and clung like a baby koala, calming down a bit.

"I'm still sorry, Laz" the technician said morosely "We're dead because of me"

Lapis didn't know what to say at that. They were surrounded by darkness, yes, but it didn't feel like death, not yet. Should she tell her that maybe they were in a sort of coma? Would that change something?

"I was in this kind of darkness too" Lazuli decided to approach it slowly "Maybe we are in the same condition I was. Maybe what we need is to find a way to wake up"

"But how? Back then, I was the one finding you unconscious and even I thought you'd never get out of it, but now we don't have anyone to find and protect us from those monsters"

"Come on" slender, blue fingers caressed a wet cheek "Since when the powerful and lovable Peridot gives up? What happened with 'I think we can win. I think you can win'?"

"It was slapped by reality, Lapis. That's what happened. Reality and being rubbed in your face that without powers there's no point in trying. Besides, why are you so encouraging? As far as I know, we might be dead already and this is how the Afterlife looks like"

"Because certain cute and brave gem has shown me all this time that trying new things may seem scary, but it is worth it in the end" Peridot didn't respond but the frown of her face told Lapis that the little gem didn't agree at all.

What were they going to do now? There were no options but to wait for a miracle and even that was useless because they were stuck in the middle of nothing, in a black dimension or whatever part of the Afterlife. What about their friends, their family, their lives in Little Homeworld? All gone.

Lapis could feel the helplessness and self-loathing emanating from Peridot. She was pretty familiar with those feelings, though it was better if she felt them than her crush. Being so distraught by your self-hatred because of some mistakes or what fate had in store for you wasn't a good experience. It was something Lazuli could relate to with Peri, but she'd rather see her smiling and not giving up than this.

She truly wanted for the mechanic to keep trying, to think on a plan or at least give the last chance to go home, but come to think of it, Lazuli considered it a bit selfish to push encouragement and comprehension to her comrade who was emotionally drained and needed a break of more planning that might go wrong. What Peri required more than anything was a silent company to ground her.

Slowly, she approached and put her on her lap, hugging Peridot from behind while placing her chin on her yellow, triangular hair. The other protested a bit, not in the mood for some temporary comfort but the green gem was too tired to do something and groaned miserably.

A long stretch of silence passed, both Crystal Gems submerged in their own thoughts, while nothingness and darkness remained the same. There was no up nor down, no light nor limits, nor sign of life or danger. 'This is how a sad ending must feel like' Peridot mused numbly 'A huge well where you can do whatever you want which ironically won't give you any satisfaction or change the outcome, just a temporary distraction that will leave you emptier than before while living with the fact that you didn't do enough. Just hopelessness and failure in front of you'

Yeeesh, she was getting the depressing vibes that Lapis used to have, wasn't she? Though, with their situation being shitty as it was, using her big brain was a waste of time. But no, she doubted time was even allowed to exist in this sad void.

'I can do whatever I want' Peri remembered suddenly from her last musings and an unexpected idea crossed her mind 'I can ask Lapis if she--' she shook her head trying to dismiss it. There was no way Laz would accept that, besides, even if she said yes, if they remained powerless, then it would be a wasted chance. And she wanted to do it in their home, not in an entirely black and silent dimension.

'I can't put her through that' Peri reflected sadly 'Even if she trusts me, it will be asking too much from her, and because of me she's stuck here'

"What are you thinking about, Dot?" Lapis' tender voice got her out of her internal debates, then the little gem stiffened with the idea of telling her companion the truth. "Is something wrong?" the blue gem placed her hand on a green chin so both could see each other. Peridot gulped, her mind and heart fighting for dominance about what to do: not saying anything or being honest.

"Uuummmm... I don't know how to say this" she started and prayed internally to not screw this up too "I was... Well... You know, we don't have any idea of how to get out of this place, whatever it is, so... If for some reason we are going to be trapped here forever, maybe we should...try...something... You know, to pass the time... And I..." some tears of frustration gathered in the corner of her eyes and she rubbed them furiously "Forget it, it was stupid anyway"

"No, it wasn't. Whatever it is, you can tell me" Lapis smiled at her kindly, Peridot debating with herself if there was a point to try "Come on, Dot. What is it?"

"It's just a meaningless whim, that's all. Why should we embark on something like that? I mean, didn't you want to go home? Why haven't you told me to think on a new plan, encourage me or knock some sense into me? Why are you acting so calm instead of freaking out?"

"I could lash out, blaming me or you, lose hope or keep trying on my own, but it wouldn't be fair to you. You are exhausted, frustrated, angry, confused. I know how that feels, so I decided to just be at your side in silence instead of overwhelming you"

"Oh... Well, t-thanks, though it's not that I'm the only one with plans, yours was great too but... Anyway, don't you miss home?" Lapis hugged lovingly and in her subconscious, Peridot could understand what she was trying to say 'You're my home'. "You are too" the green gem mumbled while sniffing.

"Laz, how do you think Steven and the others will find us? Will we be found poofed, cracked, both of them, maybe our bodies under layers and layers of snow, or...or shattered?"

"Are you asking this in the slightest hope to not be in darkness anymore?" Peridot didn't say anything for some minutes until she nodded to which Lapis said "They will. Even if it takes them too much, they will. I mean, if they get stuck, Garnet will guide them. She has future vision, after all"

"I wish I had that. That way we wouldn't be trapped here. But, even if they find us, what are the chances of wakening up? Maybe this is our new eternity now. No home, no friends, no meep morps. Just a big and round zero"

Lapis was lost on what to do to help with her love's distress. The more they talked about the next course of action -if there was any-, the more somber was Peri's mood which broke her heart. Then she remembered something and hoped it didn't trigger another dark emotion on the little gem, "You know, I was imagining us visiting Pumpkin's tomb once we returned home. It was so difficult for both of us when she died"

"I wish she was here too, Laz. I'd like to visit her with you" the blue gem caressed her cheek smoothly, Peridot leaning on the touch, before saying something else "I also wanted to cuddle with you in my hammock. Rest for a bit, relax, just the two of us"

"I wish we were at home right now. I wanted so much to fuse with you" the little gem kept enjoying the caress on her cheek until she heard a gasp and saw Lapis' surprised eyes. Immediately, she covered her mouth with both hands, cursing herself mentally for having let out that without thinking.

Lazuli was completely stiffened, barely processing what she'd heard while looking at Peridot as if she was seeing someone else. Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! This was all wrong! She shouldn’t have said that! She should've kept her mouth shut! This was a bad idea!

"I-I-I-I-I... Sorry!" Peridot ran while holding back tears. She glanced a still stunned Lapis for the last time before getting lost in the never-ending darkness.

\--------------------

The blue Crystal Gem was a mess. No, her mind was the one being a mess, exactly. Confusion and dark memories she thought she had overcome time ago were getting the best of her as her whole body tensed when she remembered Peridot's words: I wanted so much to fuse with you.

Peri wanted to fuse. Peri wanted to and had chosen her, Lapis Lazuli, to do that. She had hopes of returning home with her and then ask her if the blue gem wanted to fuse with her. And, by some twist of fate or accident, Peridot had confessed it and now she was gone.

What was Lapis supposed to do with that information? Before the Gem War, fusion never crossed her mind, not only because of Homeworld laws but also for being unnecessary for her. Then, after being dragged to Earth by Jasper and Peridot, it became her worst misdeed along with her most savages urges of revenge when she unleashed all her anger and hatred on Jasper once they fused into Malachite.

She hated it. She was disgusted by it as much as she was disgusted with herself. Jasper's cold words rang in her mind, reminding her why: You can't lie to me. I've seen what you're capable of. I thought I was a brute, but you, you're a monster.

Lapis wasn't a warrior gem; however, she was powerful. She could steel the ocean and fight the Crystal Gems while her gem was cracked. She could take control of Malachite and hold both Jasper and herself prisoners in the ocean. She even sent her flying with a single water punch. She had so much power and ammo, and that was the problem.

No, the problem was that Lapis was too violent. So much rage, hatred, and pain for being a prisoner 6000 thousand years pushed her to do the worst to someone she despised. But Peri, though, she wasn't Jasper nor she had any intention to force her to fuse. It was only a wish of hers. But Peri might get hurt, just like Jasper or worse. She might see how dangerous Lapis was and hate her. Fear her.

The blue gem would rather die than risk her relationship with her companion just because of a wish, even if it was Peridot's. Guilt hit her hard for thinking that way. She was being selfish again. Peri had done so much for her, the least she could do was to give her what she wanted, but Lapis couldn't stand the fact of seeing someone so precious to her getting hurt if they fuse.

What was she going to do? If she said she didn't want to fuse, Peridot would be sad and disappointed. And if Lapis said yes, there was a huge chance she might screw up and hurt Peri. She would never forgive herself if that happened.

' _Battling the Diamonds sounds easier now_ ' Lapis lamented and covered her face, trying to think on a way to solve this problem. ' _And back then, I felt safe because I knew Peri was there and we were facing them together_ '. Then it hit her. Of course! Why she didn't think about it? She just had to talk to her. Though it would be more difficult than when she apologized for abandoning the little gem.

Whatever, the blue gem didn't have time to imagine how things might go. Peridot needed an answer, and she will give her one! "Peridot, look, I--" Lapis stopped after noticing her love's absence. Where the hell was she?!

Her mind scrambled for an explanation and then she remembered how Peridot apologized, ashamed and scared, before running away. "Oh, stars! Peri!" In a snap, she got up from the invisible floor and went to search her companion, praying that she hasn't got too lost.

\--------------------

The former technician didn't know where she was. Well, technically, her answers were yes and no. As far as the green gem was concerned, she was stuck in a void-like dimension without hopes of going home. But she could also be in a coma, or in the Afterlife. So it was a yes and a no. Not that it mattered to her anyway.

All Peridot planned to do that moment was lie on the floor and hope to be swallowed so she could forget her biggest fuck up. More tears of frustration fell from her eyes. This was the reason why she should've kept her wish locked in her mind. Because of it and her stupidity she had lost Lapis, the best that happened to her.

The pain was unbearable. There were no friends to comfort her, no advice from Garnet to fix her mistake, no Temple or Little Homeworld, nothing to give her some solace from the loneliness. Everything she valued so much, gone. Only memories of it.

'How could I be so stupid?! Laz was the only thing I have left! We were there for each other during this hellish journey and now she's gone! All because of my big mouth!' she yelled and punched the invisible ground hard. If there was a way to travel through time, the green Crystal Gem would take the chance without question so she could still be with Lapis. So she could at least enjoy her company in this miserable eternity.

'I deserve this, though' she concluded sadly 'Lapis wouldn't be trapped in this place if it weren't for me. And still, she was so kind, didn't lash out, even if she had the right to. I wonder if she's looking for me...' Peridot snorted, bitterness in her features 'Who am I kidding? After saying what I said, it's obvious she'd rather forget I exist. Such ruler of the skies I've become. More like a butt, an idiotic and worthless butt'.

Without a single care in the world, the engineer started singing self-deprecating songs while laughing and crying at the same time. Time passed slowly, despite not feeling it at all, but then a voice interrupted her singing session much to her annoyance. "Ugh, not now, Lapis" she said, her mind too numb to register what was going on around her.

Still, the other Crystal Gem didn't stop calling her name, and the more she tried to ignore it and keep wallowing in self-pity, the more insistent her companion became which made her snap. "I SAID NOT NOW, LAZULI!!!!" the green mechanic glared at Lapis who stopped but not for the glare but because of the huge relief she felt at finally finding Peri.

In a single movement, Lapis lifted her love in her arms and hugged her as if she was going to disappear if she let her go. "Thank stars you're ok, Peri! Don't do that again!" the blue gem held her close to her chest and that's when the other Crystal Gem got out of her funk, processing what had happened and looked at her companion confused.

"Laz? W-Wait you're here? Why?" Lapis' relieved smile turned into a frown after hearing those questions. It sounded like Peridot doubted the idea of the blue gem trying to find her or wondering about her whereabouts. Like she didn't care at all.

"What do you mean...? P-Peri, I was worried sick! I didn't know if I could find you or if you were ok. I even thought you got lost forever and that terrified me. What if something had happened and I wasn't there to protect you?"

"But... But I thought you didn't want anything to do with me because... Because of--"

"Because of you wanting to fuse with me?" Lapis answered for her and the pained expression on the green gem was enough for the other Crystal Gem to have her suspicions proven right. Slowly, she sat and invite Peridot to do the same in front of her. The former technician tensed greatly until a blue, gentle hand held hers to make the invitation friendlier, not more challenging, though Peri still prayed internally to not have to deal with this situation.

"Do you want to start or should I?" Peridot shook her head in a silent plea to drop the subject, to change it, to be in silence only for Lapis to sigh. "Peridot, I don't want to force you to talk about this and I won't. Don't worry. But that doesn't mean we have to put it aside. If I had done that with the knowledge that I left you behind back then, would you have liked it?"

"N-No... I wouldn't have" Lapis was going to continue, the green gem stopped her though "But still fusion is a sore spot for you! I-I mean, it's not that seeing some of our friends like Garnet, for example, makes you feel all uncomfortable and angry. Back then, in Homeworld, we saw Steven and the original Crystal Gems turn into Obsidian and it was great, but I know it's still...hard... I can't relate though. I've never fused with anyone, I even thought I was unable until I discovered I have ferrokinesis. But that was nothing compared to your experiences. What happened between you and...you know, Jasper... Even imagining it isn't enough. But the point is, I didn't want to put you through that, to remind you how it felt. I didn't want to hurt you"

"Peri..." the blue gem caressed her love's cheek sweetly, moved by those words. Even with the pain and the stress, the mechanic was caring for her, thinking about her wellbeing "It's sweet of you doing that. Thanks. But now, let me do the same"

"Uh?" Peridot looked at her with a raised eyebrow and Lapis' smile for a bit bigger "Peridot, there are things that I cannot change. Many mistakes and misdeeds that I wish I could erase from my mind and my hands. Being fused with Jasper... Malachite... Those two are part of the list. I couldn’t stand being a prisoner, not after being trapped in a mirror for millennia. So I took the chance to unleash my rage and hatred on Jasper. I acted and became the worst when I was Malachite to the point of even missing those sensations. The lust of power, of control, to have my revenge. I liked it, I needed it, I hated it as much as I hated myself. I couldn’t stand fusion because It reminded me about what I had become. And when you said you wanted to fuse with me, I was shocked. Confused. And then I was scared. I didn't know what to do"

"Did I make you feel like you were being forced?" Peridot's voice was small and afraid of having screwed up worse than she thought, but Lapis caressed her cheek again to ease her tension "No. You didn't force me, I was just surprised. The problem is that I don't know what is the right answer. And I don't want to hurt you either, Peri. Not after what I did to you when I left with the whole barn. You've done so much for me, you deserve to have your wishes come true. I don't know how though, and it's because of how I treated Jasper. If I said no, it would be to protect you from me, but you'd be sad to have your wish denied. But If I said yes, there might be the chance of you getting hurt and it would be my fault. I want you to be happy, Peri. But I want you safe too. And... And I'm afraid I don't have what it takes to do both"

In a matter of seconds, two short, green arms wrapped around her neck, much to her surprise. She could hear some sniffs and a tear or two landed on her left shoulder. "You clod" Peridot said, barely keeping it together "Even with all that you did to Jasper, I would never see you as a threat. You are the best that happened to me. Really, the best. And you changed, Lapis. Sure you make mistakes and sometimes let your emotions get the best of you, but you're still great. You have come so far like me. You would never hurt me"

"How do you know?" the blue gem couldn't believe what she was listening to. "Because I see it in your eyes. And yeah, it sounds cheesy and cliché as humans say, but I mean it! I truly do! Despite everything we put the other through, what we have has become something more beautiful and stronger than we could have imagined. So, whether you want to fuse or not, don't worry. As long as we're together, as long as you're at my side, it will be enough for me to be happy" Peridot tightened her hold on her companion before continuing "I'm j-just overjoyed that you don't hate me"

"You silly" Lapis now was hugging her while crying "Why would I hate you? You're the best that happened to me too. Just because I'm not sure what to do concerning fusion, it doesn't mean that my feelings towards you are going to change. Peridot," Lazuli looked pulled away gently and looked at her seriously "I'm still unsure of what to do about your wish...and your safety too. To be honest, I don't trust myself. Not entirely when a subject like this comes to the picture. But, if you really want to fuse with me, I will do it then. For you. Let's give it a try"

Peridot's mind was divided. A part of her was screaming in happiness because one of her wishes would come reality and it would be with her beloved. However, another part within her reminded the green gem about their powerless condition which prevented that wish to be fulfilled. "Thanks, Laz. You don't know how much that means to me... But, I, no, we can't. It's impossible"

"What?" Saying that Lapis was shocked was an understatement after hearing that answer.

"Laz, I don't know if you have forgotten but our powers are neutralized for some reason, and now that we're stuck here we cannot use them anymore. So, even if we try to fuse, nothing will happen. That was...another reason why I didn't want to tell you about my wish"

"Oh" the blue gem facepalmed mentally for forgetting that simple but very important detail. She was so caught up reflecting about fusion, her mistakes, her relationship with Peridot and then trying to look for her love that she didn't think about the impossibility of fusing because of their condition. "I-I see... I'm sorry, Peri"

"Hey, it's not your fault. Besides, you're here with me. We're together. I just hope you don't get bored with me as your only company"

"Why would I? Peri, I've been alone a big part of my life and I even thought isolating myself would help me deal with the pain, but it didn't. Being with my family, my friends, with you especially, that's what helped me. You and I, there for each other, that's enough and I couldn't ask for anything else"

Peridot smiled while a river of tears ran down her cheeks, she hugged Lapis again and savored the intimacy, the trust, and love between them. Even with the rest of her lives in the void-like dimension, she knew deep down that with Lapis, that kind of end didn't sound so sad anymore.

How much time did they spend like that, cuddled and hugging each other tightly? Both gems had no idea, though caring about that was out of the question. Then, Lazuli got up from the floor and lent Peridot a hand who took it confusedly. "Is something wrong? Do you want to go somewhere else? Because there isn't so much to see if you have seen it"

"No, Peri. It's not that. What if we dance for a while? Would you like to?" the green gem sighed sadly and was going to say what Lapis suspected but was interrupted "I know we cannot fuse, but I didn't ask you to dance so we can try on the impossible. I want to dance with you to pass the time. To enjoy it together. What do you say?"

"Oh... Well, uuummm, I'm not that skilled in dancing, maybe I make a fool of myself"

"It's ok, I can help you" A kind smile was enough for Peri to give in. Lapis right hand holding the engineer's left one, while the blue gem's left was in Peridot's right shoulder. Peri didn't know what to do with her right hand until Lapis instructed her to put it in her waist. With the position all set up, she moved to her right, her companion doing the same with her left foot; the same thing happened in the opposite direction.

Minutes later, they were in a more synchronized and harmonic rhythm, Peridot finally leaving her tension and fear of feeling ridiculous behind to have some well-deserved fun with the person she loved most. Lapis' smile was bigger and shined marvelously at seeing her beloved enjoying the activity, relaxed and not full of self-hatred.

Soon there were giggles that turned into laughs as the dance got more sophisticated. Both gems felt lighter, revitalized, energized by the other's company. This was more fulfilling than having her powers back, it felt like home seeing your significant one in front of you smiling.

Peridot got more daring in the dance and gave Lapis a waltzes turn despite not being as tall as the blue gem, and in exchange, her companion did the same. Peri pecked her romantic partner's lips in an instant, smirking at the blushed face of Lazuli and put her in a deep dip. The other smiled amused and turned around with the green gem in her arms, dancing in circles elegantly.

She'd never had so much fun, but then one of her feet made trip the other and she fell, back ready to collide with the invisible ground. Thankfully, Peri stopped her fall by grabbing her waist with both hands and all the strength she had which wasn't that much. Lapis looked at her surprised, the other gem blushed deeply trying to think on something to say, but her chance was taken by her love's laughter, so contagious that even Peridot snorted and erupted in giggles.

It was liberating. The darkness, the silence, the harsh reality, their situation and everything they had lost, none of that mattered at that moment but the sheer joy of dancing with someone they loved. Moved by those sentiments, Lapis and Peridot pressed their foreheads to the other's and kissed like there was no tomorrow. Passion and love back together making them shine metaphorically and literally. Their whole bodies turning a blinding white, mixing together until becoming a big mass of light.

' _What is this?_ ' It thought, confused and surprised ' _Am I--?_ ' But couldn't finish its sentence when a strong sense of longing hit it. Home. It wanted to go home. Family, friends, Little Homeworld, Steven, Pumpkin, all those words transformed into feelings, then into images that increased its brightness. It impulsed the being, like fuel for a rocket, to what it believed up was.

Going fast or to the light's speed was an understatement, though the thing didn't care at all as long as it could find a way home, an exit from the desolated darkness. Without noticing, a tunnel made by light and shadows were taking shape in front of it.

The being accelerated as it saw very far away bits of an opening. It looked like the sunlight going through the holes of a wall, that was enough for the thing to boost its energy. The end of the tunnel got closer and closer, the hole becoming clearer while letting more sunlight illuminate the path until it consumed everything.

Then...

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" that was the only thing heard in the highest part of the highlands, coming from a mass of light which crashed on the top of a huge snow-covered, rocky pilar. In an instant, two figures emerged from the snow, spitting and coughing. Peridot rubbed her eyes and froze at the incredible change of scenery.

There wasn't darkness or silence anymore. High hills and rocky columns were gathered in front of the majestic mountain whose peak they were trying to reach. "L-Lapis--" she was going to inform her romantic partner about her discovery until she saw the aghast gaze of the blue gem.

"We escaped..." Lazuli's shocked whisper was a total contradiction with her expression, unable to believe that she and Peridot had gotten out of the darkness they had labeled as their end of the journey. The green gem launched at her with a hug crying of relief. Hope revived in a snap.

Her blue companion took a bit to reciprocate the feeling but when she did, it was as fervent as Peri's. The svelte Crystal Gem spooned her love while jumping in circles, her giggles a mix of shock and faith she thought she had lost. "We're free, Peri! We're free! Free!" the other nodded endlessly, feeling like she could take on everything and everyone at once.

"I don't care if I was proven wrong about being trapped there forever! We have another chance! We can still go back home!" Peridot pointed like an excited child to the top of the mountain. Its crevice spilling light in the form of a pilar.

"We are so clo-- Aaaaggghhh!!!" Lapis fell to her knees much to Peri's concern. The tear-shaped gemstone felt like a giant battery, hot to the touch and sending deep-cutting volts to her whole body. Peridot's horrified gasped made her look at herself and Lapis didn't like what she saw.

She was covered in gray and dark vein-shaped lines adorned every, EVERY, part of her. Hands, feet, limbs, face even, if she were on Homeworld right now, Lapis would be labeled as defective or an off-color. She could barely see some bits of blue skin with all the gray, and to make it worse, the painful glitches were coming back and along with a dreadful sensation of being electrified.

"Laz..." Peridot was horrified for her romantic partner, though she should also be concerned about her own condition because it wasn't better than Lazuli's. Almost all her being was grey, with black veins elongating quickly. The migraine came back too with a vengeance from the core of her gemstone draining her energy.

This was seriously the most annoying and unwanted contradiction of all. They had finally freed themselves for what could've been an eternity in a void but their lives were still in peril because of the unexplained symptoms they were suffering. It was a problem after another.

"We can't give up now" the green gem approached Lapis and grabbed her hands giving them a meaningful squeeze "Even when I never believed a miracle could happen and get us out of here, it happened. And now we can reach the peak and go back home. We CAN NOT give up, not when we are so damn close. Damn. Close"

Lapis snorted which enraged Peridot because what was she going to do with that reaction? Take it as a good sign, bad sign, or just the resignation from the inevitable? "You clod! Do you think It's the time for--" Then the blue gem kissed her sweetly much to her confusion "I'm happy to have you back, Peri. I missed the stubborn but heroic dork so much"

"I needed some rest and encouragement, Lazuli" the former technician said with a low voice, blushing deeply "Still, even when I share the hope and joy of going back home, we need to hurry. Who knows what will happen to us if we don't get cured of these symptoms"

"You're right. Let's go" the blue Crystal Gem took the other's hand tightly in her grasp and looked for a way to keep going. The weather was still as merciless and brutal as it was before they were swallowed by the darkness. Thankfully, blizzards and hails had gotten a bit soft on them and, could you believe it? there was a section of the sky above the majestic mountain that it wasn't grey and cold but a lovely light blue.

To see that color again or any other in her home was motive enough to face any challenge those cursed highlands had in store for them. "Wait... Is that a bridge?" Lapis looked to her right and, indeed, there was an old, rusty bridge made of ropes and wood that connected the rocky pillar where they were to another one, and then another one until it stopped to the peak of a hill where an arch was.

Both Crystal Gems ran immediately while fighting with the snowstorm to cross the first bridge. Its condition was unstable, though, some of the planks of wood were rotten and too weak to hold the weight of either of them. "Let me go first, Laz. I can check when to keep going and when to stop" suggested the mechanic

"Be careful" Peridot nodded and placed a foot slowly over one of the planks. It didn't give in, so she advanced while Lapis followed her. The crunches of the wooden planks could barely be heard with the raging blizzard and the lightings, Peri wondered how such devastating, chill weather could keep going on when there was a part of light blue, the tranquil sky above the mountain. Then a bolt of lightning spooked her badly and she stepped into a rotten plank which broke in half.

"Peri!" Lapis quickly grabbed her love from the waist in a semi-hug to prevent her from falling to a horrible death. Without listening to Peridot's protests, the blue gem sprinted what was left of the bridge, reaching with her companion the next rocky pillar. "You know, I should say that your tactic was reckless, terribly reckless, but I don't have the energy to complain anymore" mumbled Peridot.

Lapis decided then that carrying her in her back, despite having the feeling that the other bridges would be as unsafe as the first one, would be the only good idea to make things faster and protect her lover. Peridot didn't agree to that idea but her romantic partner was adamant with it and when Lapis got stubborn then it was near impossible to change her mind.

"Just so you know, if we die or if something goes wrong and you sacrifice yourself for me, I won't be happy" sentenced the little Crystal Gem, her comrade hummed as a response. 'The best way to do this is by being fast and precise. Don't hesitate and keep going' Lapis thought while looking attentively to the next bridge which was as old as the first one.

With big and long strides, she started to cross the second one while Peridot got a hold on her neck tightly. The little gem didn't want to look down and be reminded of the mortal heights beneath them, though that's what she did in the end which made her flinch in fear. She really wished for her trash can lid to be on her hands and use it to fly with Lapis instead of being terrified of heights.

"Are we close, Laz?" she whimpered a bit, cursing herself for that display of fear obvious in her tone. "Almost there, just wait a minute" the blue gem was having many troubles with the old bridges who were shaken by the icy winds and the earth-breaking lightings. However, the worst part was the glitches that tried to tear her apart. Some happened in an instant, others very slowly but always accompanied by sharp pain. It was torture.

Praying for not being hit by lightning or trip because of a glitch in her body, she jumped and accidentally collided with the snow, face down much to Peri's concern.

"You ok, Laz?"

"That hurt" Lapis said after spitting some snow that got stuck in her mouth "Walking and running aren't my thing... And with my body worsening, it will get worse before it gets better... But, at least, we have crossed all the bridges from there, Peri" her comrade turned her hear around and saw how much they had advanced.

"You're right. Still, don't push yourself too much. Overexerting can trigger worse symptoms or aggravate the ones you have" Lapis only nodded and let Peridot get off her back. Ahead of them was a nature-made slide tunnel, from its walls hand sharp, frozen stalactites while stalagmites and rocks decorated the floor.

The only way to slide through it would be using a surfboard or Peri's trash can lid, but none of them were available. However, the green gem's piercing eye captured a stalagmite big and resilient enough for both to use as a surfboard and slide in the tunnel.

"Let's get this thing out of the floor and use it to reach the end" Peridot said as she approached the stalagmite and tried to tear if from the frozen ground. Lapis helped her by pushing to one side with all her strength which wasn’t that much. She could still feel the electricity in the core of her gemstone damaging her body.

Peridot pressed both hands to her own gemstone, hissing in pain because of the hateful migraine. Her vision was turning blurry and her concentration was decaying. Then she heard a deep crack and saw that Lapis had broken the base of the stalagmite to separate it from the ground by tackling it like a bull to its target.

"Are you ok, Laz? Maybe we should rest" the other gem shook her head in negative despite the attractive offer of a break. Getting over this ordeal was more important, they could rest later. "Let's go, Peri" Lapis placed herself on top of the stalagmite, giving her love space to sit on it too.

The green gem sat as the 'pilot', her comrade behind her, who, in a single jump, launched both to the slide tunnel. Peridot closed her eyes once they made contact with the snow and started sliding. This was as frightening as mounting Lion and going through the dimension tunnel at a crazily high speed.

"Aaaaahhhhhh!!!!! How much until it's over?!"

"Not yet!" Lapis answered, her eyes focusing on what was in front of her. Both hands at the tip of the stalagmite to maneuver the direction. A bolt of lightning got her by surprise, her gasp getting on Peri's nerves while her fears increased exponentially. Then another lightning struck, followed by a stronger one. It was like the weather was against the idea of letting them reach the peak of the mountain.

But the end was near. Lapis could see it, though the speed was still at its highest level and the stalagmite didn't have any brakes. The only way to stop was to jump from the improvised vehicle before the crash, just like in action movies. "Peridot, hold on!" Lapis hugged her tightly and jumped to the right moments before the stalagmite crashed against a rocky wall breaking in pieces.

"Ouch..." Peridot rubbed her neck, finally opening her eyes and sighing relieved to not have to deal with that experience again. "At least we're done with this" she mumbled, Lapis lent her a hand so she could get up.

From their right, there were imposing and thick rocky walls, stalagmites and sharp icicles simulating spikes covered them but they might be useful for them to escalate. Well, just for one. Peridot again had to be convinced to hold on Lapis' back like a baby koala while the svelte gem did all the work which her green companion complained saying it was a bad idea for her health, but Lapis ignored that part and told her to just do it.

And now she was in watch turn, looking for oncoming threats while her romantic partner climbed with the best of her ability to see what was on the other side of the walls. "Wow! Hey!" Peridot noticed she stopped for a second, sweat running down Lapis' forehead and cheeks "That's it, Lazuli. You are going to take a break. At this rate, poofing is the only thing that can stop you"

"I'm...fine... Look, we're just halfway. We...can...keep...going..." the blue gem tried to stand up from where they were, a plain base at the half of the walls, but her legs collapsed making her fall to her knees.

"What if I help you for a change? You keep climbing and I impulse you from behind"

"And if you fall? What if you trip and crack your gemstone? Or what if some creature from hell kidnaps you?"

"Ok, now you're acting like the slightly pessimistic Lapis Lazuli I know" the half-serious, half-amusing remark from Peri did nothing to alleviate Lapis' worries "Ugh... Look, to survive teamwork is important, and sometimes to achieve that some risks should be taken. But, if it makes you feel better, I'll climb at your side so you don't have to turn around and check on me every 5 minutes. Do you like that plan?"

"Something is something, I guess" Lapis conceded, still hesitant but trusting Peridot enough to do this. She let her climb first so the blue gem could help her in case the other had troubles or was in danger to fall.

"I think I see fog coming from that hole" Peridot pointed to the end of the wall, they had 3 meters left to escalate but the green Crystal Gem was sure about what she saw and her mind started imagining a lot of things.

There could be a minefield, saturated with geysers, or a lake whose water was being evaporated by some source of heat, or huge columns of ice melting in a zone of lava or... No wait, those were implausible theories, and she and Lapis were on Earth. Because they were right?

"Peri, look!" Lapis interrupted her train of thought by grabbing her chin and directing her gaze to a series of floating portions of rock and earth. Peridot was totally sure that this phenomenon couldn't happen on Earth. It was like some gravitational force had torn some bits of the planet and built a bridge with them.

"This is something you don't see every day. What was that human movie again were huge pieces of land floated and people live in them?"

"You mean the one we watched with Steven in Little Homeworld's tower? Avatar?"

"Yeah, that. This is more common for that movie" Peridot checked if there weren't new enemies, but the fog was so dense they could barely notice the supernatural bridge. Another concern was reaching the start of it because it was some meters away from them.

Both gems couldn't fly and neither of them had enough strength to make a super high jump unless they calculate the time and speed appropriate to do that. "I will jump" Lapis' voice startled her but not as much as what she had said.

"What?! Are you crazy?! The probabilities of success compared to the ones of failure and death are slim or even next to--"

"Don't say the obvious, Peridot. I know very well. That's why I'll be very careful and you will be on my back"

"But with your condition worsening... I mean, if your whole body glitches, it will absorb more energy from you and leave you weaker which ultimately will send us to our end"

"How far in the start of this...whatever is this thing that acts as a bridge?"

Peridot focused her eyes as better as she could to estimate the distance. Where they were, the ground had a length of 3 meters while from their point to where the bridge started was the length of 4 or 5 meters. So if they ran, no, if Lapis did while she was on her back, they could reach the bridge. Or fall to their doom.

Peridot wasn't that heavy but a constant weight in Lapis' back may drag her down. And the blue gem didn't look as resilient as she always seemed to be. A single, painful glitch might make her poof and their plan would be ruined completely.

"Peridot, please be quick. Didn't you say we need to take risks to work together?"

"You're doing all the hard work, not me. Being the brain isn't the same as putting into practice any theory I have"

"Your brain can give us an idea of how to keep going, I'm just bringing some impulse. Now, are we ready to make the jump because I don't want to be surprised by some weird monster if there is one here"

The green gem hesitated again. This might be a worthy risk or the most catastrophic madness of all. "Fine. But as the plan-maker, I will tell you when to do the jump, ok?"

"Ok" Peri climbed to Lazuli's back and hugged her neck yo the point of almost strangle the other. The blue gem didn't mind as long as Peridot was close to her so she could protect her. "In 3, Lapis" the other Crystal Gem prepared to run.

"1" Run and jump, don't distract yourself "2" Use every ounce of strength in your legs when the time comes "3!" blue, svelte legs raced in an instant. Lapis' cerulean eyes were directed to the mass of land some meters away from both, it felt like it was calling to her. But no, it was that deep wish to reach her goal with Peridot who was pulling her in.

"Jump now!" the green gem yelled and Lapis' feet used the edge to impulse her. Peridot closed her eyes, scared out of her mind for the height beneath them whether they were successful or not.

Time seemed to slow down cruelly as if it was the waiting time for the outcome of a tedious operation or an important trial. Then, a pair of hands grabbed the tiniest bits of the landmass in a desperate effort to not die. Lapis was tempted to look down but swallowed it, starting to climb quickly while feeling the electric surges on her gemstone and Peridot's trembling.

Exhausted but relieved to her success, Lapis collapsed on the ground. One of her hands peeked at Peridot's cheek to make her open her eyes. "Come on, dork. We did it. It worked"

Peri's hands touched the ground to confirm what she'd heard and exhaled satisfactorily. "I really miss using my trash can lid" she mumbled and got up while Lapis got on her knees. Beyond them, were what seemed to be kilometers of the supernatural bridge, pieces of earth and rock placed together in a curved line going up.

"Nnnnnnn... Aaaaggghhh!" Lapis hugged herself, curling up and gritting her teeth. Her back hurt like hell, her gemstone pulsating like a dying heart, every wave of energy fighting for poofing her. The dark veins in her body grew larger, the sensation of bugs running through her body made her shiver.

"Lapis! Laz, hey Laz, can you hear me?!" Peridot was at the edge of a panic attack. What she should do? She didn't have healing powers and there was no chance of finding Steven here. All her options were weighted but only cons were thrown at her. Resting might make them vulnerable to attacks. If they kept going, Lapis may poof.

"Come on, Laz. You can do this. You're stronger than these symptoms. Show them who's boss!" It sounded cheesy but it was the only encouragement in her repertory.

The blue gem slowly got up, leaning on Peridot while fighting a tremendous headache. If there was an appropriate term to use, she would say she was being divided mentally, emotionally and psychologically. Her eyes were clouded by fatigue and focused on the horizon like seeing something invisible. An ocean of images and sounds was drilling her mind endlessly, some regretfully familiar, others too blurry to make sense of them.

"I don't get it" Peridot's anguished voice broke her trance "Why your health is decaying so much? My condition is as bad as yours but for some reason, it stops sometimes and then keeps getting worse. But your body and your gemstone deteriorate faster"

Lapis saw some angry tears ran down the other gem's cheeks, Peridot tightened her hold on her as if her lover was going to disappear immediately. With a shaking hand, the svelte gem cleaned Peri's teary eyes and hugged her to calm her down. "Don't worry. I...told you...I'll never leave. Ever again"

Her trembling legs started making the first steps, the other Crystal Gem acted as a crutch so Lapis didn't fall. The walk was unbearably tedious and tense. Peridot checked on her romantic partner every 5 seconds, flinching whenever the other gasped in pain or stopped to rest.

Meanwhile, the blue Crystal Gem was having serious difficulties concentrating on the road. With a single blink, she found herself in different times of her life: in front of the barn, in Little Homeworld, in Steven's house, in Homeworld, heck, inside of the mirror. Other times, she was surrounded by a pink-ish sea, hearing that maddening laughter again.

Like how many hours had passed already? Lapis had no idea. She was losing it. Her mind was in total disarray and the pain her gemstone didn't stop emanating threaten to drive her mad. Then, she got an idea, counting. If she did that, she would focus better and keep a bit of her sanity. "1...2...3...4..."

Of 10 she reached 50, then 100, then 180, then 270. Peridot looked at her worriedly, believing she was counting something only Lapis could see but the blue gem didn't feel she was being watched by her companion. The counting kept increasing until the fog diminished and both were faced with enormous waterfalls.

Immense stairs made of waterfalls, one on top of the other making a sort of path to the mountain's luminous peak. Determination flowed in her when she saw the majestic mountain much closer than she had imagined. Just a bit more, if they could stand more of these troubles on this journey then nothing, it'll all be worth it.

"L-let's go... We're so close..." Lapis started moving faster despite the trembles of her legs and Peridot's concerned glances. "Come on, Peri. Why the long face?"

"It's your condition. There's nothing here to heal you and overexerting your body is only making it worse"

"I'm still standing, aren't I?" Peridot didn't respond. She felt like at any time Lapis could just disappear and she would be alone and lost again. She wanted to keep her close enough to make sure nothing bad happened to her companion. Lazuli just side-hugged the green gem as her best way to dissuade her fears.

"In just some hours we will be at the peak. Whatever happens after that can't be worse than this. This is just...a long journey to return to home"

"You're very optimistic. I kind of wonder if you're the Lapis Lazuli I know or not"

"I am. I'm just making an effort in not falling apart with everything we have gone through"

"That sounds reasonable. Ok then, let's do it" Peridot puffed her chest with pride and resolve, making strides comically like she was a queen approaching her throne to give a transcendental speech. Lapis smiled, relieved to see that Peri was more energetic than somber than before and followed her as best as she could.

At a fair distance, someone might not perceive something was off with the waterfalls, but with the icy, ruthless weather and being close enough to them, it was obvious to conclude that they were frozen solid. That was something good, Lapis guessed, they could climb the waterfalls without being washed away by the flow.

"What's the thing with climbing every time we have some barriers in front of us? Couldn't the universe give us a break for a change?" Peridot's complaints made Lapis laughed. Before she started advancing to the first frozen-water-covered wall to escalate, her companion stopped her "I'm going to give you impulse from behind. You're weak and I don't want you to fall and crack your gemstone" Lapis was going to protest, though Peri didn't let her "I'll be careful. I won't let anything happened to me so you don't have to worry, ok?"

"Fine" Lapis huffed and clambered albeit not as fast as before. Peridot, whenever it was possible, placed a hand under the blue gem's feet if the other had difficulties while scaling. The bone-bitting cold of the winds made the ordeal harder not because of how much the weather damaged their bodies, but because of how much it pushed them as wanting them to fall and give up.

"How are you doing down there, Dot? Everything alright?"

"Yeah, just a bit tired of the blizzards... That’s all" To be honest, it was more than that. For some reason, her migraine decided to torture her when they were in the middle of something important. One of her hands went straight to her gemstone, feeling the smooth surface. There were no cracks but it felt like she was going to. Some kind of force was penetrating her head so hard that Peridot swore it was a signal of shattering.

Panic emerged at that thought. No, no absolutely not! She couldn't shatter and leave Lapis all on her own! They were given a second chance to go back home and they wouldn't let it go to waste! She pushed the painful throbs in the deepness of her mind, telling herself to suck it up.

"You clod... Don't start falling apart now..." She admonished in a low voice, but not low enough for Lapis to not heart it. "Peri, are you ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just stressed. Let's keep going... Am sure that there will be more waterfalls to escalate" Lazuli felt that Peri was again putting her in the shadows of a serious issue, but with all the work they needed to do in order to reach the peak she decided to let it slide. For now.

Time didn't have meaning where they were, but for both gems, it was like hours passed or too slow or too fast and they couldn't notice, focused till the end in scaling every waterfall ahead of them. Peridot, in the meantime, was holding back the urges of throwing up. The voices in her head were annoying but now they had turned to completely exhausting. It was a mess her burnt intellect didn't have the time to decipher if there was something worthy of it.

Were her memories coming back to her in a single wave that could poof her at any minute? Some of the things she was hearing, if hallucinations weren't playing any part on this, were scrambled. Like pieces of different puzzles. Sometimes she could hear bits of conversations that were familiar, but then a cacophony of sounds got her by surprise which worsened the migraine.

To top it all, her vision was now glitchy, like watching a very old videogame saturated with 'bugs' as humans called them. She couldn't distinguish if she was going in the same direction as Lapis or if one of them separated from the other accidentally. And the more she tried to rid of the senseless sounds and the weird images that appeared in the glitches, the more persistent they got.

"--dot, are you ok?"

"Uh? What?" The green gem shook her head like it was a maraca, but that only caused that a buzz entered to her ears much to her annoyance. "W-What were you saying? Are we done?"

"Peri" Lapis was looking at her as if the little Crystal Gem had gotten drunker than a beer-loving sailor "You're talking to an icicle right now"

"Me? What are you--?" Peridot focused on what she was seeing and then a bit of lucidness returned to her eyes. In fact, in front of her was an icicle which meant she thought it was Lazuli whom she was talking to. "Ugh... Stars..." her hands massaged her temples, a burning tingle ran through her limbs every time those weird black veins elongated.

Then a glitch made her legs disappear in an instant and fall much to Lapis' horror. "Peridot!" the blue gem put her in her arms and checked every part of Peri's body. Everything looked distorted and barely kept together, but her eyes were the creepiest part. The irises seemed blurry, painted in a pixel style and so lifeless, Lapis thought she had with her just a shell of the gem she loved so much.

"Peri... Peridot, please say something... Please!" Hopelessness. She hated that feeling. It reminded her of her suffering in the war, her time in the mirror when she couldn't stand the idea of the Diamonds coming to Earth to destroy it. She was clueless and alone and losing Peridot without knowing how to help her was too much to handle.

' _Think, Lapis. Think! You must do something!_ ' Trembling hands grabbed her arms and terrified eyes pierced with a pain she could understand too well. "S-S-Scared... I'm scared, L-Lapis... I don't want to die! I don't want to leave you! It's too much... Too much pain! I feel like I'm shattering!"

"You fool. You should've told me" Lapis reprimanded her bitterly. She knew Peridot was at the brink of a panic attack, but she wasn't that good comforting people even the ones closest to her. Still, she had to try "Peridot, feel my arms around you. Can you feel them?" The blue gem hugged her and received the same gesture "Listen to my voice and breath. In and out. I'm here with you. I won't leave. You told me my symptoms aren't stronger than me, that I could overcome them, so if you said I can then you too. You're the strongest, bravest gem I know. Don't give up. We are going back home; we are so close to doing it. Just a bit more and we'll be successful. So, don't give up"

Slowly but surely, Peridot's tense body relaxed and her eyes started seeing everything around her better than before. The glitches and the buzz in her head weren't as intense and that gave her a bit more energy to sit up.

"Thank you" she mumbled apologetically and gratefully. "Stars... That was really...traumatic..." Lapis side-hugged her strongly. "It's a relief you're better now. Want to rest?"

"No, n-no... I just want to end this madness before it ends me. How much until we're done climbing waterfalls?"

"We have one left. We are sitting on the frozen water of the penultimate right now" Peridot's vision wasn't that good yet but at least she could make sense of what she was watching without the sea of 'bugs' and sounds wreaking havoc in her mind.

"It's better if you hold onto my back" Lapis suggested "I don't want you to have an accident because of another issue your body might have"

"I'll be fine. My head doesn't hurt that much anymore. Just numb and empty. Maybe If we do this slowly, we can reach the peak without more difficulties to deal with"

"Are you completely sure?" Lapis wasn't that convinced of letting Peridot continue after witnessing how fragile she was.

"I'll climb first and you will follow me from behind. That way, if I collapse or something, you can catch me. I'll be careful and tell you if I'm too tired to keep going, ok?"

"Again, are you truly sure?" Lapis wanted to trust Peridot's judgment but with everything they have endured, it was proving too hard for her to change her mind. "Yeah, Laz. I'll be fine. I will take all the precautions"

"Alright then. Go first" The green gem walked a bit clumsily while her companion kept a worried eye on her. Resolutely, she started escalating without pushing herself at the limit. Soon, her efforts became a bit quicker and more encouraged which brought a smile to Lapis' face. Despite the turbulent journey, they were having, her lover hadn't lost that brave and hardworking spark of hers and she wanted it to be that way.

Because that was one of the things she admired of Peridot most, that no matter what she was always ready to fight back and help. Whenever the little Crystal Gem had an idea to improve Little Homeworld or a plan to make an important mission successful, that spark was present in her eyes and never wavered. But with this kind of journey, Lapis noticed how burnt out it got.

Their powers not working, the deteriorating symptoms, the dangers and especially the void where they were stuck for who knows how long had taken away so much energy from Peri that it was a miracle she was still trying to fight. Though, if she had been alone during the whole ordeal, things would have been worse and Lapis didn't want to imagine her companion giving up because of that.

The good news now was that they're closer than ever to finish this. Once they reached the peak and got to the other side, who knew what other challenges they would face. All they've gone through may be worth it or not, the sole thought of having wasted so much time in a solution that never existed, except in their own heads, was too scary for Lapis to dwell on.

' _We need to keep climbing, keep walking. There is no time for doubts_ ' She told herself mentally. One hand grabbed a sharp icicle while her eyes were focused on Peridot. For now, things seemed to be fine with the green gem; however, the blue one had this sensation of being torn apart. Many forces were pulling her limbs, her head, her mind, every corner of her being in all directions. Like two or more beasts were fighting for prey by ripping it to pieces with claws and fangs.

' _Not now. Oh stars, not now. Not when I have to be there for Peri_ ' Her gemstone felt cold, but not the normal kind. It was foreign, ominous and macabre. Like Death's claws claiming for its next victim who didn't stop fighting against the spectrum. Her anxiety skyrocketed, Lapis trembled violently, struggling for keeping her balance and sanity.

Then, terror, her gemstone emanated paralyzing waves that made her believe she was going to break apart. Is that how it felt being shattered or at the brink of destruction? She swallowed the pain, poofing her chest with fake pride imitating Peridot's ego-boosting gestures, but it only made it worse. What was this torture?

All her worst feelings and fears scattered in her mind while her body stopped, kept climbing, stopped, glitched. ' _My head... I think I'm going to--_ '

"Lapis, take my hand! Take it quickly!" Peridot yelled. Her voice sounded distant as if she were thousands of meters away from the blue gem. Her eyes could barely distinguish colors and shapes, all looked like a scribbled picture. One of her hands, however, was raised unconsciously to where she thought Peridot was.

Her companion took it immediately and pulled with all her strength until she got Lapis at her side. The other, though, didn't respond or react, utterly numb for the sinister wave of sensations produced by her gemstone.

"Shit!" Peridot swore after checking Lapis' back. Instead of being gray like the rest of her body had turned, it was almost covered in thick dark veins that came from her gemstone making it look like it'd been painted with black. There was no doubt that whatever that was happening to them, especially to Lapis was a new kind of corruption that could shatter them if not treated.

"P-Peri... Where are we?" Lazuli murmured, drunk by fatigue. Her lover placed her gently on the side of an old arch and waited for the svelte gem to regain consciousness. "Lapis, you need to wait for me to show you. You aren't in the conditions to see it yet"

"See what?"

"Just breathe and rest for a while. You almost fainted and fall, Lapis. You could've cracked your gem" Peridot, for some reason she didn't know, sounded between panicked and totally done. Almost like Lazuli's old self.

The blue gem breathed one, two, three, so many times as possible. Minutes passed until coming to half an hour, Lapis' trance and numbness finally giving space to clarity. "Ugh" the blue Crystal Gem pinched the bridge of her nose to rid of the draining headache pulsating inside her skull "Ok... Ok... I...waited already... Where are we now?"

"Look at your right"

Lapis did and her gasping was signal enough for Peridot to know that she was as surprised as the green gem had been a bit before.

In front of them was the breathtaking and majestic mountain in all its splendor. Above it, there was a beautiful blue sky and fluffy, white clouds. It really gave you some peace for the mind compared to the rest of the journey that was the total opposite.

"I can't believe it... Peri, we arrived!"

"Well, not exactly but yeah, we just need to cross the huge and deadly cliff that is in our way and we'll finally have reached the peak. The only problem, though, it's...that there is no bridge"

Oh...

OH...

"Fuck" Lapis swore and leaned her back on the right side of the arch. "Now what?"

"Beats me. How do you feel though? You really gave a big scare back then. Your symptoms are getting to a point of being incurable. I-I don't want to imagine what will happen if we don't find Steven in time to treat you"

"I say the same for you, Peri. I thought you were going to glitch and disappear. Heck, the only thing we need right now is a miracle to cross this cliff without getting ourselves shattered"

Something crossed Peridot's mind. A miracle? Could that happen again? But what if not? What if that time was just luck? But still, they had endured terrible things, survived multiple attacks from monsters, being powerless and terribly sick, you can name them all. Maybe this cliff was the last test of their mental strength and unity.

"Laz, let's do it" Peridot's determined expression was met by Lapis' confused eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You said a miracle was the only thing that could help us now, and when we thought we were stuck in that void, something between us happened that got us out of there! What if we create another miracle to reach the peak?"

"But how? I mean, wasn't it lucky?"

"We had luck many times even when we faced together threats no one could stand. The Diamonds, Jasper, those monsters. However, there was something that gave us a real chance and that was being there for each other till the end. No hesitation, no fear, just focusing on what we wanted to do, what we wanted to accomplish. We can do it again"

"If by that you're implying that we can fly by jumping such a huge cliff, then forget it. It's suicide"

"We have seen things that shouldn't be normal on Earth after learning how things work on it. Please, Lapis, don't take this as if I'm desperate. This is our last leap of faith. Remember that episode from Camp Pining Hearts when Pierre and Percy made that jump together from one side of the end of the cave to the other side where the others were, even when the move was risky and with a high probability of failure and death and still they did it and survived?"

"This is completely different from Camp Pining Hearts, Peridot"

"What if it isn't? What if it's our chance to do the same and end this ordeal once and for all? I mean, there are no materials to build a bridge or another path to reach the peak. This is the solution. Faith in ourselves and each other, and then jump"

"But if we die?" Peridot opened her mouth, then closed it due to the lack of good answers. If they die... If they did, then there would be nothing but the Afterlife, whatever it looked. Both gems had come so far, giving up wasn't an option. This was worth a shot. "If that happens, we'll at least have each other. Like in that void. Besides, if the Diamonds couldn't stop us, this stupid cliff can't either"

Lapis wasn't that sure about it. During the whole journey they had been so close to death; however, at seeing Peri's unwavering decision some of the strength that was vanishing from her returned making her smile filled with resolution "Let's defeat that cliff then"

The green gem took her hand, both Crystal Gems held tightly to their partner ready to run and do the leap of faith, but before that Lapis kissed her lover deeply much to Peridot's surprise "Just an extra power boost" the former technician blushed profusely and faked a cough much to Lazuli's happiness.

"Ready, Lapis?"

"Ready" said the blue gem and the two started running even with the numbing pain and back-breaking exhaustion. Everything went in slow camera when they made the jump, their hands locked with the other's, then they descended until... Clack!! Their feet collided with something hard that wasn’t there. Both looked at each other, shocked to the core; however, they didn't have time to ponder what had happened because the invisible bridge began to break apart.

Lapis got up immediately and pulled Peridot so they could run more easily. Every step felt like a stab in some part of her body, of her gemstone. Peri, on the other hand, was having some difficulties in catching up with her companion but the fear of death gave her the impulse necessary to accelerate. The peak was getting closer, the bridge was trembling with their movements, their sight was being consumed by darkness, but the loving longing of home pulled them more and more to their goal.

"Just a bit more, Dot!" Lapis shaking legs were at the brink of tripping "Just a bit--" then her feet felt no more ground. The bridge broke in pieces beneath her and Peri.

'Oh no! Not now! Screw it!' Lazuli's last bit of energy was spent in a life-saving move by jumping to grab the edge of the peak, Peridot's hand still held by hers. Her arm felt like it was being torn mercilessly, the extra effort sending flames to the tired muscles, so agonizing. "Peridot, I'm gonna throw you to the peak! You help me from there!"

"Roger!" The mechanic then was tossed and put to safety when she made it to the crevice of the mountain. Without losing time, she grabbed Lapis' right hand and pulled until the blue gem was on her knees on the snow-covered ground. Both fell to their backs, one at the other's side and in seconds snorts and cackles erupted from them until forming into massive laughter.

Pain, numbness, danger, and terror became in overflowing joy and relief. They made it. They finally, truly made it!

"WE MADE IT!!!!!!!!" Peridot yelled, raising her hands to the air like rubbing her victory to the skies' face.

Lapis, meanwhile, cleaned her teary eyes, smile as big as the mountain "Yeah, Peri, we did it. You were right"

"And now... Home. The other side where our friends and family are" The engineer helped the ex terraformer to get on her feet and both looked the beautiful light in front of them. The crevice in the peak of the mountain was narrow but inviting, like a tranquil path to a peaceful and calm place to rest and forget all the turmoils suffered at the beginning of their journey.

"Let's go, Dot. This time it will be...easy peasy... Just walking..." Lapis was at the brink of fainting though her wishes of being in Little Homeworld again lifted her strengths even if by bits. "Yeah, come on" Peridot took her hand again and both walked, clumsily and drunk by fatigue.

The former technician could picture already what she would do once they were home. Oh, all the stories she'd tell the Crystal Gems and Steven, they would be ecstatic to hear them and happy to have her back. Peridot would return as a hero again and even announce that she and Lapis were deeply in love and had confessed to each other. There would be a great celebration and much more. The future was bright and there was nothing that may take it away from her.

Lapis hummed a song, her mind conjuring lots of scenarios where the blue gem and her lover lived happily ever after, had fun and laughed like there was no tomorrow. To think that one day someone like her who had been trapped in a mirror for so long and made so many mistakes might imagine a life filled with hope and love. It was so daring but joyful in the end, something that very soon she was going to have again. Peridot and she would visit Pumpkin's tomb, watch Camp Pining Hearts, remember the good times, hang out with Bismuth, Steven, and most importantly, being together like they had never done before.

And all of that was going to become a reality once they saw what was beyond the light.

"It all...became...so lovely..." her eyes felt heavier with every step "Those bluest... skies...above me..." the end of the crevice was so close "Those...funny feelings... I...had never...felt before...I...met you... I finally...find myself...sitting on...that distant...shore" Peridot's hand slipped from hers, the green gem entering to the light-filled terrain beyond the crevice. However, something prevented Lapis from following the little gem. Her knees colliding with the ground, but still smiling, still feeling Peri's hand locked with her own while watching her away.

"With you...I'm not...alone..." The svelte gem fell face down with a joyful expression in her face. ' _We're finally going home_ ' she thought, shedding a little tear of happiness.

"I can see it, Laz. I can see our home" Peridot kept walking, ignorant that Lapis couldn't follow her despite having the sensation of the blue gem's hand on hers tightly. The former technician got farther and farther away until the light completely consumed her.


	10. Epilogue

Inside the Beach House, everything and everyone was silent. Pearl was drying the dishes with a somber expression, Amethyst, sat in one of the seats in front of the kitchen island, played with her hair bitterly, and Connie was on the sofa looking at her sword, red and puffy eyes trying to holding back more tears. At her left was a gemstone placed over a pillow: Peridot's gemstone.

There was also Lion who watched intently the little gem in her comatose condition like waiting for a signal to act.

If silence had a name, it would be unbearable or hell. Utter, endless hell. The tension between the members of the Crystal Gems could be noticed even for the most oblivious individual in the whole world. Though that didn't matter, nor the fact that no one in the Beach House had the mood or the guts to 'break the ice' with a single comment. However, what could they say after the torment they were put through?

Amethyst sighed, fed up with the uncertainty, and looked at Pearl and Connie. Both her friends were too immersed in their own way of grief that it seemed they had forgotten the only person who was in the shadows.

"Hey," she started but no one listened "Hey, guys" Amethyst was met with the same silence.

Irritated and with her patience to her limit, she resorted to her best tactic. A very high whistle took them by surprise, Pearl caught one of the plates she was drying before it broke into pieces and Connie accidentally dropped her sword to the floor.

"Amethyst, what the heck?!" the veteran gem glared at the quartz "Why did you do that?!"

"Because we're wasting time, P!"

"Wasting time...with what?" Connie asked, her voice a bit hoarse due to the crying. She coughed a bit to clear it. "What do you mean?"

"What are we going to do with Peridot once she wakes up?" Pearl caught the meaning of Amethyst's question faster than Connie and grimaced, trying to think a good answer.

"Well..." hesitation stopped her from a moment before continuing "Obviously, we're going to check on her. Verify if she can remember what happened after she was poofed... And cracked... Almost killed..." the last thing was said in a trembling whisper "Then when we're sure her memories are intact, we'll tell her the truth".

"Really, Pearl? Like, for real?" Amethyst sent her the best, most unimpressed stare the old gem had seen in her quasi-immortal life "You're the smartest gem I've known, and this is your best shot?"

"Amethyst, I understand your reservations about my methods but, what can we do? There is no option for Peridot"

"There IS one and that is not waking up. Ever"

"You can't be serious, Amethyst!" Connie yelled outraged and approached the quartz while glaring at her "Have you forgotten that Steven is still in the hospital waiting for an answer about Peridot's condition? Hoping for her to stay in a coma forever is too cruel! Steven can't lose someone else!"

"Well, what's your plan then?!" losing her temper, Amethyst sat up from her seat of the kitchen island and glared at Connie as intensely as the girl "Are we going to tell Peridot 'Hey P-Dot, glad you're awake. Remember that crazy gem, Spinel, who wanted to poison Earth with a giant injector and tried to kill us all? Well, you and Lapis really got into serious trouble with her and almost got crashed, except that you got lucky and Lapis is a bunch of shards inside a bubble. Anyway, want some consolation cookies?'. Do you really expect anyone to say that?! Even after we saw how heartbroken Steven was when we told him?!"

"Ok, enough, both you!" Pearl put herself in the middle to stop a fight between the pair and pinched the bridge of her nose. Sighing heavily, she gazed at them "Look, this is a compromising situation and there is no way out of it unless we are honest with Peridot. Praying for an endless coma to save everyone from giving the bad news isn't possible and to top it all, it's even selfish"

"How can that be selfish if Peridot is going to suffer again, P?! Should I remind you that Lapis left her homeless and depressed and now is unable to come back like the last time?!" Pearl glared at her as if ordering her to not lose her temper, but Amethyst looked away angrily while crossing her arms.

The purple quartz wasn't a fan of Lapis, and her opinion of the blue gem went to total disapproval after Steven told her about Lapis and Peridot's disagreement that ended up with the first one taking the barn to space while the second one was left sad and lonely. Despite Lapis' sudden return to Earth and her saving them from Blue Diamond when she crashed Ruby and Sapphire's wedding, Amethyst was still wary with the ex terraformer.

"That incident is something between those two, Amethyst. If they've talked things through, fine, if not, it's up to them. We can't mix something from the past with what's happening now"

"Still, it's better if we spared her from more hurt feelings. We have lost too much thanks to Mrs. Revenge Noodle Gem who wanted to give Earth a piece of her mind"

"What we need right now is to plan the best way to deliver the news, Amethyst. We're her friends" Connie intervened after ordering her thoughts while still holding back the tears "Everyone here is in the same position as you because no one can be as close to Lapis like Peridot, Bismuth or Steven. Besides, what if she finds out about Lapis' demise on her own? It's not like it's impossible for someone to discover a gem or her remnants inside a bubble hidden in a secret place! I mean, Steven could find Bismuth and discover what happened to her, and Peridot is too smart for her own good!"

"That was luck. Pure luck and Lion was living with us. But anyway, what do YOU expect us to tell her? No matter if we are too careful or go straight to the point, nothing will save Peridot from the heartbreak!"

"She isn't the only one!!" Connie cried, anguished tears finally running down her cheeks "I. Was. There!! I was there when I saw Lapis' gemstone shatter. I-I-I was so goddamn close t-to... The fountain was in front of me, just some steps and she would be healed and safe... But... I wasn't fast enough. She broke into p-pieces in my own hands. I can still hear the crack, see myself trying to put her back together just to--"

Pearl immediately hugged her close to her chest and the girl cried, holding tight on the gem she considered a second mother.

For the veteran gem to see her apprentice falling apart like that, it tortured her mercilessly. No one had any idea of how to approach Peridot with the fact that the gem she was closest to died after both were defeated by Spinel. Connie was right that only Steven, Peridot and Bismuth -at some extent- were close to Lapis, and she and the blue gem had a rocky history between them concerning the mirror and Pearl storing her inside her gem without checking if the object was gem-powered or if a gem was imprisoned in it. However, that didn't stop her from being horrified and saddened by Lapis' shattering.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only concern. Spinel and her reasons to destroy Earth with them in it were the second priority which she didn't want anything to do with. Despite having defeated her, Pearl couldn't grasp in her mind -full of good and conflicting memories of Pink- how the deceased Diamond could have been so cruel, thoughtless and self-centered to abandon Spinel while deceiving her with a 'waiting game'. Advanced equations or building a robot were tasks Pearl could do easily; understanding Pink at all, that was another story.

And to make it worse, they have suffered because of another careless decision of her. Steven had to fix another mistake that even took one of his friends' life. She could get that Pink needed to grow up and prove herself to the Diamonds back then, that running a colony required too much time and work to spare in other activities or fun, that her interests and Spinel's were completely different, but just look at what her lack of guts has caused!

She could've left Spinel with the Peebles in her palace on Homeworld or tell her the truth kindly that they were growing apart, heck, put her in charge to take care of the garden with the aid of some gems. She could have done something better, anything!

But no!

Pink just played with Spinel's head and prayed at everyone's backs that this never 'bit her in the butt' as humans said. Technically, it didn't blow up in her face but it did with Steven's. Pearl just hoped her little boy could heal appropriately and not be burdened by more of his mother's screwups.

"I'm sorry" Connie and Amethyst glanced at the thin gem who lowered her head in shame "I know I didn't cause this mess, but... But if I had known Pink was going to left Spinel, if I had known the abandonment was going to break Spinel mentally, I would've tried to stop Pink or tell her to take another course of action. If I had acted, things would be different now. Again, I failed to change the future for the better"

"Come on, P! Don't be ridiculous!" Amethyst punched her in the arm, not to start a fight but because it was her way right now to give comfort "You can be annoying sometimes, but your heart is where your friends are! That's why you're thousands of times much better than Pink. You have grown, you changed, you're the best! But her? She cheated and lied to get her way! Sure, Rose, Pink, -whoever she was- played a part in saving the Earth and if it weren't for her, we wouldn't have Steven, but if it weren't for YOU, the Crystal Gems would've never existed. I mean, you were the one with the idea of pretending to be another gem, and that led to both of you to explore the planet, fight for it and then for the gems who wanted to be free, dude! Besides, YOU are part of the heart of the Crystal Gems, and then Garnet, and me, Steven, Greg, Lion, Connie, Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth, and the gems we healed from corruption and live in Little Homeworld, but not Pink. She may have tried, but she didn't try enough. Not like you, Pearl. So, stop that bullshit about feeling guilty for someone else's mistake!"

"She's right, Pearl. You've done so many great things, heck, you're like a second mother to me. Besides, don't take offense of this, but even if you'd tried to convince Pink to talk with Spinel or to leave her in Homeworld where she would be with other gems, I doubt Steven's mom had listened. She didn’t stop to consider the consequences of faking her shattering after all" Connie rubbed at her teary eyes, her face becoming more serious "I don't know what to feel anymore, but that doesn't mean we have to fight each other like moments ago. Peridot will need us more than ever when she knows about Lapis. We have to tell her the truth and give her our support. And even if we'll never have the chance to get to know Lapis better, at least we will pay her our respects while taking care of Peridot. It's what she had wanted us to do. It's the right thing to do. For Lapis, for Peridot and especially for Steven"

"Yeah, you know, even when I never liked her that much, even less when P-Dot was all alone after she left, I could see how much those two were meant for each other. Sure, maybe I can't see it that well because I'm more defensive on Peridot's side, she's my friend after all, but I know there was something more than a closeness between them. But once Peridot wakes up, it'll be gone"

"And that's where Spinel didn't have luck enough to heal" Pearl explained though the others didn't get it at first "Peridot has all of us. Spinel only had Pink, but when she abandoned her, there was no one she could turn to for comfort and hope. Losing Lapis in this way, I can't imagine the devastation in Peridot's face, but at least she won't be alone. So, no matter how we approach her with the news, we'll never leave her side"

Amethyst and Connie nodded determinedly and joined hands with Pearl in silent camaraderie and solidarity.

The sound of the warp pad being used startled them, Garnet's silhouette visible despite the blinding light, then the stoic gem got out of the warp pad, a scowl on her face. Pearl gulped a bit and separated from the other two to talk with her comrade despite the nervousness "Glad you're ok, Garnet... How'd it go?" She asked, her voice almost shaking.

"Really. Exhausting" she hissed, her teeth were gritted strongly, barely containing the urges to punch something or yell. Whenever there was too much frustration to deal with, Ruby made herself noticeable via angry growls and tense seriousness. The fusion massaged her temples to alleviate herself from the high-level stress and exhale a big sigh "We have 5 minutes before Peridot reforms so, I'll be quick. Spinel's new prison in Homeworld will take some preparations, the Diamonds are still in disbelief about what had happened to her and what she'd done, but they at least understood that Spinel is a huge danger to Steven as long as she is free so they'll take care of her while she's still in the bubble until the prison is finished"

"Wait a second, some preparations?" Pearl was the first talking before the others intervened, "What do you mean by that? Garnet, it has been two weeks since the attack and people are still paranoid about another gem wanting to destroy the planet. I know this is going too far but Spinel is seriously obsessed with her senseless revenge, she needs to be shattered"

"But what about Steven?" Connie asked concerned. Shattering was a quick option that could save them from more work, but her best friend would never agree "Are we going to lie to him if he wants to know what we did with Spinel? Even if she deserves that punishment, he will be against that idea"

"Yeah! 'Sides if the Diamonds think they can replace Pink with Spinel and keep her in check by putting her on a royal pedestal then screw them! They'll make it worse and Spinel might escape and try to kill us again!"

The discussion went on and on, too caught up in finding out what to do with the Diamonds' sudden affection towards the homicidal gem and the repercussions of telling Peridot about Lapis' demise that they didn't notice Peridot's reformation until Lion growled at them. 

"Shit! She's coming back!" The four Crystal Gems saw her comrade's light projection getting out of the gemstone and then the little gem plopped on the ground, dizzy and confused.

"Ugh... My head... What happened?"

Suddenly, she was engulfed in a bear hug by Connie and Amethyst while Pearl and Garnet watched from behind. Peridot's appearance had changed: her visor now had the shape of the upper body of the star; she was wearing a mix of boots and sandals, both brown with some golden lines decorating them and a jacket of three tones of green with the Crystal Gem's symbol emblazoned in the middle of it; her hair didn't have her classic triangular style anymore but a star style, complementing with the visor.

"Wow, dude, you look awesome!" Amethyst's compliment broke her train of thought. With a single look at herself, Peridot gasped amazed at her new appearance modifiers.

"That's what I am talking about! This is how I, the unbeatable ruler of the skies Peridot, should look in front of her enemies!... Still, Ummm, guys do you know what happened? Because there is only one way I could change my appearance and that is by being poofed"

Her friends' joy for having her back was quickly replaced by uncertainty and concern. Before she could ask what was wrong Connie was the first one speaking "Peridot, what's the last thing you remember?"

"What do you mean? Wait... Are you implying I was poofed during a mission or an accident and brought here?"

Pearl looked at Garnet as if asking her if her future vision had some plan B to help the little gem to recover her memories. The fusion decided to take action and approached her comrade whose face had turned into a pensive frown while searching in her confused mind.

"It seems that what she had done to you have shocked you to the point of not recalling anything" Peridot glanced at Garnet and when she opened her mouth, the taller gem stopped her raising a hand to explain herself "You mentioned your suspicions of being poofed during a mission. They were right, you indeed were poofed while protecting Beach City from a gem. Peridot, does the name Spinel sound familiar to you?"

The former technician pronounced that name silently, the core of her gemstone was tingling with the sole mention of Spinel. However, her mental repertoire was useless in giving her the information she wanted. Images ran through her mind with such velocity it was difficult to process what they meant and the collage of sounds and voices didn't seem to have an end.

Then a headache. Oh how loving! Now she had to deal with that!

"Peridot... Can't you remember anything?" Connie's tone of voice was a mix of concern and pleading, but right now it grated her nerves. Since when human children sounded so annoying?!

"Shhhhh! I'm trying to concentrate!" Peridot hissed. Closing her eyes, she delved in the deepness of her memories just to find... Nothing. A complete mess.

"Ugh! This is useless! I kind of have the answers at the tip of my tongue but they don't come any closer!"

Putting a hand on her shoulder, Pearl stopped the distressed Crystal Gem before she got more frustrated "It's alright, Peridot. Maybe we can find another way to revive your memories without you fainting for the exhaustion"

"More like going insane for the headache" the little gem mumbled angrily.

"But, anyway, Garnet, you said a Spinel attacked Beach City right? I have read about that kind of gem: they're jesters, entertainers. Not warriors or weapon-experts gems. So, why one would want to invade Earth?"

"It was for very personal reasons" Pearl intervened, shame and anger painted on her facial features.

Peridot started formulating many theories around that. What kind of personal reason would a Spinel have to attack them? Was it because of the new status quo of Era 3? That might be, after all, now with the Diamonds out of leadership and all the gems being freed, there was more space for new purposes, but that also meant that many gems would feel lost and angry for their sole job to be questioned and for some of them to get revenge at the responsible for those changes. Wait! If that was true, that means Steven was the target and he wasn't in the Beach House. Where was he?!

"Where is Steven?" that question surprised the rest of the group, and strangely enough, she perceived some relief in their eyes but didn't have time to ponder about the source of their reaction "Where is he? Is he ok?"

"Hospital" Garnet's response got her attention though not in the way she wanted "He is recovering at the hospital. Let's go, he needs to see you"

"Garnet, wait, our only way to get there is by Lion and hospitals don't allow any animals much less magical ones!" The fusion went to the wireless phone, grabbed it and gave it to Pearl "Call Greg, tell him we're coming to visit with Peridot now reformed. Ask him if there are humans in Steven's room so we can be prepared to go when they're gone."

The veteran gem nodded and dialed to him.

The former technician was left observing everyone's behavior, even feeling a subject of it. Pearl's voice was trembling, her posture rigid but with some freaking-out urges escaping from the seams. Garnet was at her side, the stoic manifestation of leadership though more bitter and somber than any time she had seen her like that. Meanwhile, Connie and Amethyst were looking at her and at each other conspicuously. If there was something she disliked was to be left in the dark. It was much better when data was delivered to her so she could make a plan or get to a conclusion, but Connie and Amethyst weren't helping which irritated a bit. And every time she glanced at her friends, the girl and the quartz looked away as if not knowing how to talk to her. Did they know something Peridot should remember or being informed about but didn't have the guts to tell her? The most concerning thing was Connie's eyes, they were so puffy and red, it must have been related to Steven's condition which worried her more because if the girl had cried that much it meant Steven's life was in peril.

Then an alarming realization crossed her mind, "What happened to that Spinel? Is she still free wreaking havoc?"

Amethyst tensed slightly at the mention of her name, that wasn’t a good signal. "Poofed and bubbled, dude" the quartz said, Peridot sighed internally. So there was no danger or enemy ready to kill Steven. That was good.

"You can't still remember what happened to you?" Peridot tried again, but her mind was as uncooperative as ever.

"Nothing. Ugh! This is such a mess. A Spinel with a vengeful agenda against Steven, him in the hospital, my memories too disorganized and fragmented to make sense, all of you acting so weird around me"

"We're not" Peridot raised an eyebrow not buying that. "Really? You two are sending secret messages by looking at each other and then you glance at me with a sort of pity which I don't like. At all"

"We're just worried about you. You were in a coma for 2 weeks"

TWO WEEKS?!! Was she kidding her?!

Connie froze, Amethyst glared at her for letting that bit of info escape from her mouth, but it didn't matter now that Peridot was digging harder than ever every corner of her mind something to put the images and sounds together so she could remember what happened to her exactly. Protecting Beach City from a revenge-thirst Spinel who tried to kill Steven wasn't contexted enough for her. A little voice told her that her friends knew more but couldn't explain or were afraid or...

Ugh! Whatever, she needed to know!

However, just when the green mechanic was going to demand answers, Pearl interrupted "Time to go. There are no nurses in Steven's room, so we can use Lion to warp there"

Amethyst shapeshifted into a little monkey, holding onto Pearl's shoulders; Garnet sat on Lion's back after Connie and Pearl, whose appearance was weird with a primate-sized Amethyst on her. "Peridot, time to go" Garnet commanded. The green gem fulfilled the order numbly, her mind too full of many questions and few answers to process correctly what was happening in those moments. 

\---------------------------

Hospitals were now the bane of existence for Greg. Before he never thought of them unless his son's health was in peril whether for a serious illness or severe injuries and with the dangerous lifestyle Steven had because of his mother's actions, the concerns just grew stronger, despite having the Crystal Gems as Steven's best defense.

Then, with Greg's unhealthy eating habits like hotdogs, donuts and anything with too much sugar or fats, the urgency of going to a hospital became a priority, especially after almost having a heart attack during a family barbecue. 

_"Dude, even a heavy eater like me knows that too many burgers and other carbo stuff can be the death of you" Amethyst commented when she caught him fighting to breathe and clutching his chest as if it were going to explode._

The purple quartz looked scared, sounded scared, though she tried to lessen the tension in the air with her joke-y tone. Greg asked to not tell this to Steven because that would ruin the fun for him, Amethyst was against that idea but complied with the condition that Greg took better care of himself, that meant fewer snacks and more exercise. 

It was a fair deal so he tried hard.

However, now he felt that temptation was going to overtake. The stress and fear were so dense that maybe a snack or two might alleviate those feelings, but Greg refused. His son's condition was more important which just increased his distaste for hospitals.

He couldn't believe this mess was hitting them again, hitting Steven of all people, again!

They should've been rid of Rose's mistakes already, but it seemed that her series of wrongdoings got larger and more infuriating by the second.

He could understand the need to lie and keep secrets because, hey!, he even kept some like his real name, but for Rose to deceive Spinel into playing a 'waiting game' just for her to not deal with the fact of telling the other the truth of them growing apart, and for that to blow up in Steven's face when Spinel found out Rose abandoned her...

It was nauseating. He didn't have the heart to act in that way, though why delving in the past when Rose wasn't there to defend herself or receiving a piece of everyone's mind for putting them, especially Steven, through another hell of her problems.

The more he thought about it, the more he wondered if he really knew his lover.

_"I barely know you"_

_"That's a good thing"_

What did Rose mean by that? That she even was aware all her progress and growth were insignificant compared to the cost and it was better being all ignorant about it? Or that thinking of her as a perfect person was the best option despite the obvious consequences of the festering secrets and wounds?

Anyway, that didn't change the outcome: Steven got hurt and had to fix this as any other problem Rose caused.

Just recalling the agonizing pain his son had gone through when he was told one of his friends, Lapis Lazuli, was shattered by Spinel during her revenge tore his heart apart. The anguished weeping, the shaking body, the horrified eyes, it was like seeing another person, no, the embodiment of sorrow taking over Steven.

Greg shook his head, trying to rid of those horrible images and just focus on being there for his boy. The teenager was sleeping a bit easier now that he had been informed Peridot was ok, although the many machines hooked to him make Greg believe his son has a terminal illness.

However, there was no time to grimace at that prospect because suddenly, a warp portal appeared in the middle of the hospital room and Lion got out. In its back were Garnet, Pearl, a monkey-sized Amethyst holding the pale gem's shoulders, Connie and Peridot.

The Pink beast flopped on the floor, exhausted. Steven opened his eyes slowly due to the noise and his eyes sparkled after seeing the green gem. "Peridot! You're alive!"

The former technician was shocked at Steven's appearance. The once confident and strong savior of the universe had terribly pale skin, huge bags decorated his eyes who were a bit red and puffy, many machines were connected to his body and his voice sounded so small and weak. Was this person really Steven?

"Steven, what on stars happened to you?!" Garnet shushed her for talking too loud, Peridot ignored the fusion and ran to be on her friend's side. Connie was the second, being on the right side of Steven's bed, hugging him tightly just to make sure he wouldn't disappear.

"I'm glad you're ok, Peri" For some reason Peridot couldn't explain, the nickname gave her a familiar sensation though she felt it came from someone else "I was so worried about you. I thought you'd never wake up"

"Me being in a coma doesn't matter as much as your condition, Steven! What happened? I mean, the only things the others have told me is that a vengeful Spinel attacked Beach City, I was there protecting it and she poofed me"

"...They didn't tell you?" Steven's eyes directed to the rest of the group with a secret message 'Why you haven't told her?'. Garnet decided to take action before the tension got worse "She still can't remember what happened. But we will show her the proofs and deliver the news"

"News about what?" Everyone except Peridot grimaced or winced at that question. The little gem didn't like the prospect of her friends lying to her or leaving her in the shadows as if she couldn't take some bad news "Come on, guys! This isn't fair! Now Steven is acting weird, there are still details I want to know about Spinel's attack and to top it all, there is bad news which you don't want to tell me! Wait, is it Little Homeworld, isn't it? Is everyone there ok? Are Bismuth and Laz alright?"

"We'll show you, Peridot" Pearl's voice could barely contain the grief "For now, don't push it too much. Your mind needs to be well-rested if you want to process everything that is to come"

The mechanic wasn't satisfied with that response. It sounded like Pearl was pitying her, but if it took patience to get to the bottom of this, then it would have to be whether she liked it or not.

During the 15 minutes of the visit, it was hinted many things concerning Spinel and how Beach City was dealing with all the damage inflicted by her. Sometimes, Steven let a bit of information escape on purpose to help Peridot's memories to resurface just for the little gem to still find her mind a collage-like mess which just left her confused and frustrated.

"You guys should go to Mask Island" Steven suggested, everyone tensed up at that option while Peridot wondered what the island had to do with Spinel and Beach City in ruins. Unless the destructive gem was bubbled and put there so no one has to be burdened by what she had done, but no, it wasn't possible. They had the Temple for storing bubbled gems after all.

"Dude, are you sure about this?" Amethyst hated to admit it but showing Peridot the remnants of her and Lapis' battle against Spinel didn't sound like the best idea. What if it didn't work? What if it was too much and Peridot fell apart on herself?

"You have to. Peridot," the look on Steven's eyes unnerved every immaterial inside of her hard-light body. Whatever it is that happened was serious, at least concerning to her due to how everyone was behaving "I'm so sorry"

Sorry... Sorry for what?

"I don't like the course of this conversation" Both Garnet and Pearl lowered her heads somberly. Connie and Amethyst led Peridot to where Lion was resting so they could come back to the Beach House, not without wishing Steven a good recovery and bid Greg farewell. The group returned to the house, the silence a heavy layer of apprehension and sadness. Before using the warp pad Garnet wanted to check if Peridot's memories were still too fragmented to make sense of them "Peridot, try to remember what was the last thing you heard, felt or saw. Don't push yourself though. Just pick what you think you can understand". The green engineer inhaled and exhaled then closed her eyes and dug deeper than ever. Then freeze frames popped out of nowhere, though they looked pixelated to the point of being unrecognizable. The voices inside her head weren't as overwhelming as before, but now they sounded fragmented and too far away for her to understand what they were talking about. However, Peridot was able to number the people who were speaking. There were Connie, Bismuth, Lapis, herself, but there was also a high-pitched, cruel stranger. Wait, was that Spinel?

"It's still confusing but not so much. It seems that I can recognize some voices, maybe they are part of my memories. Connie, Bismuth, Lapis, even me. There is another one but I don't know her. It must be Spinel"

Garnet's stoic face didn't show any emotion, or that is what Peridot believed. There was a tension barely visible in the fusion's posture as if she was trying to keep herself together. It was pretty worrying, but the green gem didn't have time to ask if Garnet was alright because the fusion spoke "It seems your memories from the time Spinel attacked are coming back, though slowly. I know where to start but I want you to know, Peridot, that if it's too overwhelming for you, we can postpone this until you feel better"

Annoyance and irritation sparked in Peridot's gemstone for a while. She appreciated her friends caring about her and being thoughtful about whatever they were going to tell her, but she was starting to feel pitied by them. As if the former technician didn't have what it takes to face the truths they knew.

The events must have been too intense for the other Crystal Gems to have to struggle emotionally; however, Peridot had already fought enemies worth of being feared like the Cluster, Jasper, heck even the Diamonds. So, bring it on!

"Whatever it is, we can get through it. Spinel was defeated, which means the next step will be easy peasy. Now let's go. If it's something serious then there is no time to waste" 

In contrast to her enthusiasm and confidence, the others were engulfed by dread. Connie was the palest and sick-looking, though she was grateful her friend didn't glance at her. The girl had no idea of how to comfort Peridot once she was told what happened with Lapis. In fact, Connie was terrified at the idea of the little gem asking about her other friends. It was too much if they didn't get over this, she was going to throw up!

The 5 members teleported to the island. Or, much to Peridot's horror and shock, what was left of it.

Mask Island, a place full of life, both natural and magic, was the perfect depiction of a wasteland. The once splendid palmer trees forest had become into a gray, depressive moor covered in deep cracks as if a giant in flames had stepped on it. Many kilometers ahead of them, there were bits of green, but it wasn't that much. 

The worst part was the hole, no no, the colossal crater on the left side of the island. Peridot's imagination conjured a lot of crazy theories of what must have happened, and with the news of Spinel's attack, her conclusions got darker and more horrible than she feared.

"SPINEL DID THIS?!"

The others looked at each other aghast at her intelligence. At this rate, Peridot would remember everything and things would be harder for them when the time to comfort their friend came.

"You got it right. But there are more things that can explain to you what exactly happened"

"What's the point in an explanation after this mess and Spinel being bubbled, Pearl? And-And this place... This place was the home of the Steven-watermelon clan! Maybe that crazy Spinel used them as hostages and even destroyed their home to hurt Steven, to provoke him. But wait, I remember Connie, Bismuth, Lapis and I were in, well I still can't remember, but anyway, we were kind of confronting her, right? We-we were in this place fighting Spinel, weren't we? Is this the bad news you wanted me to be informed about?"

Amethyst was at the brink of poofing. She couldn't do this, just...just giving more clues to Peridot and hope for her memories to come back instantly and then boom! She would figure out that Lapis was shattered and implode in the most painful way. Constructing this scenario was worse than watching her friend struggling after Lapis left her with the barn.

"Amethyst!" the purple quartz jumped at the shout. Now what?! Couldn't she be given a break to, you know, mope around and figure out what to do next?!

"What, Garnet?"

"Transform into a helicopter and carry us where the proofs are. Quickly"

She groaned but fulfilled the order. This day couldn't get more stressful, and it was just midday!

The fight was anything but pleasant. Small talk or asking question was attempted by Peridot, but Garnet looming over her like a giant statue served as a good warning that it wasn't the time yet to say anything.

The poor green gem was this close to jank her own hair out of her head. What the hell was wrong with her friends? Since when there was so much secrecy? 

Now she could understand how frustrating it was for Steven having to deal with everyone lying to him, keeping secrets and pretending some things never happened. Just like his maternal unit, Pink Diamond did time ago.

Peridot was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't take into account the pained eyes directed at her. Connie held back as better as she could the wheezes from a panic attack, the poor girl felt like garbage for not blurting the whole truth and make this more difficult than it should be, but Peridot needed her memories to be restored for her to understand the whole context. And after that, they would tell her what happened to Lapis.

The Indian girl grabbed Pearl's right arm for support, for a plan, for another outcome so the worst could be avoided. The veteran gem squeezed Connie's left hand, as a mother would so her apprentice wouldn't feel so lonely and scared.

Garnet, meanwhile, was driving herself mad with future vision, searching for a happier conclusion to Peridot's ordeal, but nothing. No matter the number of possibilities, it always ended up with her friend in tears after knowing what happened to Lapis.

"We arrived" Amethyst declared and landed.

The zone in which the purple quartz had alighted didn't have any signs of life. Nor plants, nor animals, not even a single Steven-watermelon wandering in the area. Just huge fissures, dead vegetation kilometers around them. But then, Peridot noticed something pretty peculiar, "Wait, is that a robot?"

The little Crystal Gem ran to have a better view of it, the others walked grievously, preparing themselves for the long explanation.

The machine was as huge as the one the former technician had built to defeat Pearl years ago. It had three tones of green, and a star-shaped visor, similar to the one she had before being poofed, its left arm ended in a steel sphere with multiple spikes, the right arm in a circular saw. There were no legs, it seemed they had been ripped out from the robot mercilessly.

"This robot... Did I built it?"

"Yeah, dude" Amethyst's voice was dull and lifeless, a big contrast compared to the energy she always carried talking and doing her own thing.

The group observed Peridot attentively, who knew how she would react once she pieced everything together. Meanwhile, the green engineer kept touching and analyzing the once threatening robot in front of her. The sensation of familiarity grew stronger with every second passing; however, the answers were still stuck as if a force prevented them to spill themselves out of Peridot's memory repertoire.

Something didn't make sense.

"If Bismuth, Connie, Lapis and I were fighting Spinel here, how was it possible for me to bring a robot? Did I bring it here or someone else did for me?"

"Lapis helped you" Pearl intervened as delicately as she could "She...bought you time to build it so you could fight Spinel easier"

Breaths were held in anticipation of the worst. Just a bit more, just another detail revealed and Peridot would aks if Lapis was ok and then the tragedy would be told. 

"Lapis..." the little gem pronounced too raptured in her musings to hear the nervous gasps behind her.

So she helped her, she wondered if the blue gem was alright. She obviously wouldn't be with the knowledge that Steven was in the hospital, heavily injured and that Mask Island was a wasteland all because of a lunatic Spinel.

Suddenly, a stinging headache assaulted the core of her gemstone. Both hands went to it, massaging it so the pain could stop but it just only got worse. She didn't notice her friends' worried cries or how tight Garnet held her shoulders due to the violent trembling of her petit body.

What she only put her attention on were the desperate voices overlapping each other in her head, the set of images that first were too pixelated to make a sense of now becoming more clear-cut. Then the barrier broke in half and saw everything. Lapis using her hydrokinesis to lift the giant injector, her and the blue gem fighting Spinel in Mask Island, the psychotic gem giving them a hard time until a giant, no no, Alexandrite, her building a robot after Lapis told her to run and hurry, how strong the blows of Spinel were against her little body. The last image on her head was Lapis' anguished face, the svelte gem saying 'I've got you, Peri' before obscuring her vision while pulling her close to her chest; however, there was another thing and that was the huge injector still full of bio-poison being launched at them from many meters high.

"I remember..." Peridot mumbled in shock much to the other's nervousness "I remember everything!"

"A-Are you sure, Peridot?" Pearl approached her cautiously and stopped when the green engineer looked at her in horror.

"We were here, Pearl! Lapis and I were here fighting her, and-and she was so strong, my robot couldn't poof her. I saw it, Pearl! Spinel tore my robot's legs apart! I can still feel it, the punches, the kicks, she beat me down!"

"Peridot, please calm down" Connie held the gem from the shoulders despite wanting to be held in the same way. The worst was getting closer. "Spinel can't hurt you anymore" 

' _No more physically, but emotionally and psychologically, yes_ ' the girl swallowed, the urges of throwing up were too overwhelming for her to keep doing this.

"How though...?" Peridot's question didn't make sense "How could we defeat her? I mean, look at this place! It looks like hell had been unleashed! Like an asteroid had fallen on the whole island! I bet no one survived!"

'You couldn't be more right about this' Amethyst lamented, feeling helpless, lost. With a glance, she asked Pearl and Garnet for help to prevent a panic attack from Peridot that seemed imminent; the permafusion kneeled in front of the green gem and took off her glasses.

"Half of Mask Island was destroyed and almost all the Steven-watermelon clan was decimated. But there are survivors too. You're one of them"

"I see... I see... That's good." the engineer breathed in and out for some minutes "They can rebuild this place or find another island to inhabit. Lapis and I can help them with that" Pearl, Connie and Amethyst grimaced "Wait. Is Lapis ok too?"

Garnet stood up slowly without saying anything while the others glanced at her stoic face, waiting for a response with as much dread as Peridot "To the Beach House, now. There is something you need to see there"

The little Crystal Gem opened her mouth to protest for the cryptic answer but the permafusion's kind of menacing posture shut her up. Amethyst transformed into a helicopter and carried them to the island's warp pad. Peridot was surprised that with the level of destruction Spinel inflicted on the place, the warp pad has survived.

They returned to the Beach House in a pillar of light, the collective mood was like a stinky pot where anger, confusion, grief, uncertainty, fear, nervousness, and guilt boiled, mixing in a horrible mess.

Garnet opened the Temple's doors to the Burning Room, entering quickly. The permafusion relaxed a bit before placing herself in front of a red bubble; footsteps were heard from behind her, Peridot and the others watched her stiffened back, the little gem with confusion, the rest of the group mourning.

Garnet exhaled heavily before speaking "I'm sorry, Peridot. Just so you know, you have all of us to get through this. You're not alone"

The former technician raised an eyebrow. Something told her that whatever that was being hidden by Garnet wasn't good and she wouldn't like it.

Her comrade then turned around, Pearl, Amethyst, and Connie braced themselves, Peridot's eyes seemed plates for how big they became due to the heart-wrenching surprise in the permafusion's hands. No, it wasn't the bubble but the set of shards inside of it. Despite the change of color because of the red bubble, Peridot could identify them. There was only one person whose gemstone, beautiful as the ocean, could be formed by those shards.

"L-L-Lapis..." unconsciously, the green gem approached the bubble which Garnet gave to her in silence. Then, without anyone expecting it, the mechanic burst the bubble, freeing the shards. The others were going to do something, but the permafusion stopped them.

Never in her life, the color blue had been so tragic, haunting and devastating. Little hands encircled around the shards, putting them back together and forming a tear-shaped gemstone, or what was left of it.

Again and again, Peridot tried to repair the shattered gemstone of her companion in vain hopes of bringing her back, though nothing happened. Her vision started getting blurry, one, two, ten, so many tears escaped from her eyes and made contact with the shards. Her mind shut everything else out just to concentrate and revive her loved one, but the more she fell to denial, the more desperate she got. 

Soon, her body begun trembling while tiny, pitiful sobs came out from her mouth. She wanted to feel her again. To be wrapped up by Lapis' arms whenever she was sad, to see her lovely eyes rolling in fake annoyance and genuine fondness whenever she rambled about a new invention, to listen to every barf joke and laugh of hers, to see the blue gem smile and relax while they watched Camp Pining Hearts. 

Peridot wanted Lapis to come back like she did when she appeared and fought Blue Diamond. Being at her side and grin forever, enjoying the marvelous life they had. The life they would have but would never return to them. 

Because Lapis was gone. 

The Burning Room was filled by a soul-destroying shriek like no one had ever heard before. 


	11. Images of the fanfic




End file.
